


This is what happy feels like

by Bagarella25



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Coming Out, Dreams, Ferris Wheel, Fluff, Fukurodani - Freeform, Getting Together, Hanami, Light Angst, M/M, Mention of KenHina, Mention of Minor Character Death, Nationals, Other, Pining, Soulmates, Training Camp, Volleyball, mention of TanaKiyo - Freeform, mention of lice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:22:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29701908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bagarella25/pseuds/Bagarella25
Summary: In which Bokuto knows Akaashi is his soulmate but Akaashi has no idea.Of course Bokuto is piningTM.------------“It’ll be a great opportunity to learn more about Akaashi.” Konoha had said. “He’s your soulmate after all, you can’t avoid him forever.” He insisted, and Koutarou hadn’t had any objections, until Konoha (that bitch) brought up a new topic on the table.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji & Bokuto Koutarou, Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Konoha Akinori/Shirofuku Yukie
Comments: 22
Kudos: 77
Collections: Haikyuu Big Bang 2020





	This is what happy feels like

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovelies, you thought I was dead? Well I was not, I was working on this piece for the HQBB!!
> 
> I wanted to try something a bit more classic so this is a SFW BokuAka soulmate AU!!  
> The "soulmates memory dreams" wasn't my original idea, it was given to me by Noff and I'm really grateful for it. :)
> 
> I wanted to thank [Momo](https://twitter.com/petiteshoyo) for being an amazing beta and [Esque](https://twitter.com/tirralirralirra) for the amzing [art!](https://twitter.com/tirralirralirra/status/1365048971752841219?s=20)
> 
> I also want to thank [Griz](https://twitter.com/hornyowlboi) and [Cairda](https://twitter.com/cairdaswailes) for their help, and [redacted] for letting me vent about the fic these past few weeks.

That day Koutarou met his soulmate. He always knew he would meet them through volleyball. His soulmate had to be into volleyball in order to be his soulmate right? That was just a simple fact. On the other hand, what he wasn't expecting was to meet them this early in his life.

Usually people met their one true love during their adult lives because soulmates weren't easy to find.

Not every night, because the brain had to rest sometimes, but most nights when you were sleeping you could dream about your soulmate memories. You could see what they did during the previous day or you could dream about their early childhood. There were no rules about which memory you dreamt about.

Sometimes you could get lucky and dream about when they brushed their teeth in the morning and see their face in the mirror, or even when they wrote their name in their notebook in middle school and know their name. But it still was pretty rare as the memories you dreamed of were usually attached to heavy emotions or big events in your soulmate’s life. If you knew their name you’d have a better chance of finding them, although you’d have to somehow search through the thousands of people with the same name. If you saw their face, in a mirror or a photograph, you could always use one of the countless facial composite applications online, but then again there were so many results that success wasn't guaranteed.

The more foolproof way was to trust fate and hope that one day you’ll recognize this figure you discovered piece by piece in your dreams.

Koutarou was very blessed as he one day, dreamed about his soulmate’s face. As he understood at some point in her life, his soulmate’s mother must have been a painter. One day in his dream, looking through the eyes of his soulmate, he saw what he assumed was their mom’s back, a brush hanging in her hand. She was outlining on a canvas what seemed like a big family portrait. In front of her, was a big mirror reflecting herself, with a fond smile on her face and the rest of the family, what looked like her husband with an arm wrapped around their son next to her. The boy had the most beautiful face Koutarou could ever dream of.

He had a round and luminous face, with high cheekbones and the chubby shapes of a middle schooler like him. His eyes were soft and big with heavy lids. They were the same color of the ink Koutarou put in his pen when he was writing letters to his grandmother. He had a delicate and playful smile. His hair was black as the night and wispy, falling on his forehead like a crown made out of feathers. He was sitting gracefully between his parents waiting to be painted on the canvas.

When Koutarou woke up that morning, tears were streaming down his cheeks. He knew he would never forget that face even in a billion years.

So that day when he showed up, the first day of practice during his second year of high school, Koutarou’s world stopped spinning for a second; everything seemed to collapse around him.

At first Koutarou said nothing, observing. He took a proper look at him. He was tall, but smaller than him. He was lean but muscular as a good volleyball player should be. He had the same black wispy hair floating around his head. His eyes were big and heavy, dark as the clouds on a rainy day. All his shapes were delicate and fine. A true piece of art.

As soon as Koutarou learned he was a setter, his heart did a backflip. He could have guessed it himself actually, of course his soulmate was into volleyball. A great ace like him needed a good setter by his side. Fate was just particularly kind this time, apparently.

Although Koutarou knew this specific person was designed to match his taste (or the other way around maybe) it still was disturbing to fall in love in a single look. Yet if this man would have asked him to die right now on this spot, he would have obeyed without flinching.

After the round of presentation of the first years Koutarou approached him.

“Akashi, you're a setter?”

“It's Akaashi, and yes I am a setter, Bokuto-san.”

“Oh, you know my name?” Koutarou asked, writhing in place. Maybe Akaashi knew they were soulmates.

“Yes, I know who you are Bokuto-san, I have to say that I'm quite a fan.”

_ Uhg? _

“So you actually came to me or...” Koutarou was excited. He thought that  _ he _ was the one to find his soulmate but it was actually his soulmate who came to find him! He felt like the protagonist of a rom-com.

“Well yes, kind of. I also applied here because Fukurodani Academy has one of the best volleyball programs in the country.”

_ Oh. _

“Yeah, well it's true...” Koutarou suddenly felt very cold, “But I mean you don’t  _ know _ me right?”

“No, I only read about you in Monthly Volleyball,” Akaashi put his hands behind his back, “I was very impressed by your prowess, I must say.”

Koutarou’s cheeks darkened, “Oh, but I mean-” He started but his voice died in his throat as the coach called for the beginning of training and they had to part away and start running laps around the gym.

From then, Koutarou didn't have the opportunity to talk more to Akaashi. Of course, he didn’t tell him he was his soulmate. That wasn’t an easy conversation to approach, he couldn’t drop the news between two rounds of spikes and dives.

In fact, he wasn’t sure if he should tell him at all. It felt wrong somehow. They both were still very young and Akaashi came to Fukurodani to become better at volleyball, he had goals and objectives. It felt just wrong to take his attention away from that.

By the end of training Koutarou had been called out five times by the coach for not focusing enough. Even Konoha, who was already used to Koutarou’s antics, came to see him at the end of training to make sure everything was alright.

Koutarou glanced toward Akaashi searching in his bag a few meters away, “No Konoha. Everything's  _ not _ alright.” He sat on the bench of the locker room and dropped his head in his hands, “I can’t tell you why, but I’m currently living the best and the worst day of my life.”

Konoha rolled his eyes, “You’re so overdramatic Bokuto.” He put his towel over his shoulder and crossed his arms, “I’m gonna buy you ice cream on our way home and you’re gonna tell me about it.” Then he got back to his bag to pack his things up.

  
  


Once they parted from the rest of the team, Konoha finally asked:

“So what is it?”

They were waiting in front of the 7/11 for Yukie to come back with the ice cream.

“How is it that Yukippe is the one buying the ice cream?”

“She lost a bet,” Konoha said plainly, “Don’t change the subject Bokuto.”

He crossed his arms on his chest and tapped his foot, waiting.

Koutarou looked at his feet. “It’s about my soulmate,” he mumbled.

“Why are we talking about soulmates?”

Yukie exited the konbini, handing each of them a Gari Gari Kun and then began to unwrap the Homerun Bar she bought for herself.

“Apparently Bokuto has a problem with his.”

“Oh! Didn’t I tell you?” Yukie managed to exclaim with the ice cream shoved wholly into her mouth, “I know mine is a girl!”

“Oh! Congrats Yukie!” Konoha slapped her back in a friendly manner, “I was so happy when I learned mine was a girl too,” Konoha wrapped his arms around himself. “I can’t wait to meet her,” he sang with a smile of pure delight.

“So, what is your problem Bokuto?” Yukie asked.

“It’s Agaashi.”

“You mean Akaashi? The first year?” Yukie licked the popsicle stick of her already eaten ice cream.

“Yes, Akaashi.”

“What?!” Konoha grabbed Koutarou by his Fukurodani jumpsuit, “But why didn’t you tell him?! We have to go back! You have to tell him!”

“Are you sure Bokuto?” Yukie giggled, “You didn’t even say his name correctly.”

“Yes, I’ve never been good with names. And I saw him clearly in a dream one day when I was young.” Koutarou sighed, “I don’t know if I should tell him though.”

“What?! Of course you have to!” Konoha began to shake Koutarou back and forth, “Do you know how many people would like to be in your place right now?”

“I’m not sure he should either,” Yukie said, tossing her popsicle stick into a nearby trash can.

“What?! Why do you agree with him Yukie?!” Konoha let go of Koutarou’s sleeves to turn toward her, mouth wide open.

Yukie sighed, “Because,” she turned towards them and crossed her arms over her chest, “Akaashi is here to improve his volleyball skills. On his application form he said he wanted to go to nationals and win.”

Yukie was one of the managers of the team, she knew this kind of stuff. She knew every player, their skills, and what they should improve on. She also knew their characters and how to use all of this in the best way for the team.

“I’m not sure telling Akaashi he’s your soulmate would be a good idea,” she continued, “because we know how young love works. You’ll be all lovey-dovey and there will be no more room between you two for volleyball and practice. You can ask the coach if you want, but I’m sure he will be on my side.”

Koutarou took a bite of his popsicle and hummed.

“Yeah no, you’re right Yukippe. And I don’t want to jinx it, I don’t want to force anything on him. I have to let him come to me, it’s the only way to start a healthy relationship.”

Yukie and Konoha were looking at him with wide eyes and their mouths slightly open.

Until Konoha said slowly, “Y-you sounded so mature Bokuto right now.”

“What?!” Koutarou squawked, “I can be mature when I want, I mean, when it’s needed, I mean, when it’s important…” Yukie frowned at him, “I mean, for Akaashi I could be mature.”

Konoha sighed, “Okay big boy, if you say so,” he started walking again on their way to the train station, “but don’t come crying when something goes wrong, because it will.”

“Nah, it won’t,” Koutarou followed him, Yukie in tow, “because he’s my soulmate. We will be together in the end.”

  
  


Hiding from Akaashi their bond dictated by fate, revealed to be more torturous than Koutatou would have ever expected. Of course, he knew it would have been hard, but… not at this point.

And it was mostly because of Konoha.

On the next day, the second-years of the volleyball team insisted (thanks to Konoha, that bitch) to invite Akaashi to their daily lunch on the school’s roof. Everything went fine for the most part, except for a permanent blush on Koutarou’s face. Being near his soulmate after waiting for him for so many years was quite overwhelming. But of course Koutarou knew how lucky he was. He got a chance to spend valuable time with the person he will end up with forever. Some people were a bit freaked out by the idea of being with one person their whole life, but not Koutarou. He found it really soothing the thought of always having a person who will understand you by your side. He knew he was someone difficult to manage, mostly because of his mood swings, and being able to rely on someone that won’t be scared away was very reassuring for Koutarou.

_ “It’ll be a great opportunity to learn more about Akaashi.” _ Konoha had said.  _ “He’s your soulmate after all, you can’t avoid him forever.” _ He insisted, and Koutarou hadn’t had any objections, until Konoha (that bitch) brought up a new topic on the table.

“So Akaashi, I was telling the others,” he said while stuffing his mouth with a karaage. “I discovered recently that my soulmate is a girl. What about you?” He took the time to munch on his piece of fried fish, “What do you know about your soulmate?”

The sausage Koutarou was scarfing down suddenly lodged in his throat. He choked loudly with tears in his eyes. Saru handed him his water bottle, and Koutarou drank from it without hesitations, while Konoha slapped his back hard, still looking at Akaashi with a satisfied smirk.

After glancing up to Koutarou to make sure he wasn’t dying anytime soon, Akaashi answered, “Actually I don’t know anything much about them.” 

Koutarou picked his ears while gulping down the water.

“Except maybe that they love yakinikus.” Akaashi added. 

Koutarou stopped drinking and went completely still. This answer was actually very… accurate. Yakiniku  _ was _ indeed Koutarou’s favorite food.

“Oh what a coincidence!” Konoha shouted, fainting a gasp, even though Koutarou knew perfectly where this was heading.

Koutarou lowered the water bottle to look over him. 

“It’s also Bokuto’s favorite food! Right Bokuto?”

Koutarou, throat still sore, choked a second time on the remaining water going down his pipes. He swallowed heavily, then slapped his hand over his mouth to cover a rough cough.

“Right?” Konoha insisted.

_ That bitch _ .

“Hmm,” Koutarou tried to take an evasive tone when he answered, “Yeah right, right.” He fervently hoped it was sufficient enough to throw Akaashi off the trail. He shot what he hoped was a subtle dark look at Konoha.

“Well,” Koutarou turned around to glance at Akaashi who apparently hadn’t finished talking, “it’s just too bad I’m a vegetarian.”

Koutarou quickly looked down at his bento and  _ how hadn’t he noticed? _ Indeed, Akaashi's lunch didn’t contain any meat.

Konoha bursted out laughing, mouth wide open. Koutarou restrained a screeching sound that wanted to escape from his abused throat.  _ What? _

“B-but, h-how is it possible?” Koutarou blurted out. “I mean, why?”

Akaashi glanced at him with a bored look, “Studies have found that factory farming and overfishing are responsible for twenty percent of the destruction of the ecology of our planet.”

Koutarou felt the sudden urge to hide under a blanket, “W-what?” He wasn’t the most comfortable with complicated sentences.

“Humankind eats too much meat and fish, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi said without even blinking. “It’s destroying the planet.” Koutarou had perfectly understood this time. “Among other things of course, but this is one I can truly act upon,” He added with a shrug, before biting down on a piece of kabocha.

“This is just perfect!” Konoha interrupted, still wheezing. “What a wonderful twist of fate!”

Koutarou blinked out of his stupor, “B-but what would be the reasons for fate to give you a soulmate that loves meat?” He asked more for himself but it was heard by Akaashi anyway.

“I don’t know,” Akaashi said. “But I guess I’ll get to find out one day.”

Koutarou didn’t say a word during the rest of the lunch break meditating on fate and its tricks, while Konaha was giving him mischievous smirks between two bites of his karaage.

  
  


The following days Akaashi came to eat with them at every lunch break. Konoha kept teasing Koutarou a bit about his soulmate but it never went very far as Konoha, even if he was a bitch, was also a very good friend who always respected Koutarou’s opinions.

One day, at the end of training Yukie had the brilliant idea to ask Akaashi where he lived and they discovered Akaashi actually lived in the same direction as Yukie, Konoha, and Koutarou but he never walked with them because they always stayed late after training.

When Koutarou heard the news, he crossed the court in two long strides to Akaashi, bouncing happily.

“‘Kaashi! ‘Kaashi! Yukippe told me you live in Kotakecho!”

Akaashi, if he was annoyed by the nickname, didn’t show it, “Yes Bokuto-san, I live near the ballet school.”

“No way! I live near the library a few blocks down!” Koutarou stopped his jumping around to ask, “Would you like to toss me some balls after practice? We can go home together afterward!” He didn’t give Akaashi time to answer before he added, “Konoha and Yukkipe also stay longer usually, but they live in Komone so we say goodbye at the train station.”

If Koutarou didn’t know better, he would have missed Akaashi faint blush when he answered, “Yes Bokuto-san, I would be glad to toss to you after practice.”

Koutarou’s heart fluttered with excitement at the thought of his soulmate living only a few blocks away from his house and he would be able to walk back home with him. At this instant, Koutarou thanks all the existing deities for this gift from fate.

  
  


When everybody was leaving the gymnasium to finally go home, Yukippe called Koutarou into the supply room. He joined her, intrigued.

“Today I’m going back home early with Konoha because we want to catch up on a geometry lesson together.” She looked towards the door leading to the volleyball courts, “but I guess it’s okay since you have a new supplementary practice partner now.” She smiled smugly at him, “Am I right?”

Koutarou squawked, understanding what she meant, “I’m gonna train alone with Akaashi?!”

“Exactly!” She put the ball she was holding into one of the bins before walking towards the entrance. She looked back at him over her shoulder and said, “You’re welcome!” And left Koutarou blushing from head to toe at the realization he’s gonna train and sweat and get heated up with Akaashi  _ his soulmate _ Keiji in this big gymnasium, completely alone and unguarded.

He shook off his head to get rid of the tons of crazy thoughts buzzing in all directions in his mind.

When he stepped out of the supply room to get to his towel on the bench to wipe his now very sweaty face, Konoha was the last one leaving the gymnasium. He said, low enough so Akaashi collecting the balls on the courts wouldn’t hear but loud enough so Koutarou could perfectly hear, “Don’t do anything  _ I _ wouldn’t do,” and winked at him before leaving for the club room.

Koutarou felt his whole body heating up and he was still petrified staring at the now-closed door when Akaashi tore him out of his dazed.

“Bokuto-san? Would you like me to toss to you?”

Koutarou yelped and snapped back to himself, “Yes! Yes. Let’s go!”

He couldn’t allow himself to have these kinds of thoughts right now. And yet, everything seemed so easy, Akaashi was his soulmate after all, it would have been so easy to just take advantage of the situation. It wasn’t like he would reject him anyway, it was fate after all.

Akaashi took position at the center of the court, Kotarou grabbed a ball and placed himself at the left edge of the court.

“Ready?”

“Ready,” Akaashi confirmed.

Koutarou tossed the ball to Akaashi, before taking a few steps back to build momentum then ran toward the net. Left, right, left, then he pushed on the ball of his feet to jump as high as he could. His body tensed up, arms in place, ready to snap like the string of a bow. The ball came to him, high over the net and just in front of him. Perfect. He spiked it down vertically and the ball crashed with a loud  _ pow _ in the 3 meters.

When Koutarou landed he immediately turned around to look at Akaashi. He punched both his fists in the air.

“‘Kaashi your tosses are the best!” He exclaimed, joining Akaashi and enveloping him in a tight hug.

He released him quickly realizing what he was doing and took a few steps back. A faint blush dusted Akaashi’s cheeks.

“Th-thank you Bokuto-san.”

After this they got back to it, Akaashi tossing to Koutarou relentlessly and Koutarou spiking the best spikes he ever did.

The more they trained together, the more the spikes were landing close to the net, the more Koutarou realized he couldn’t bring himself to expect anything close to romantic from Akaashi. He was there for volleyball after all, and he was damn good at it. Right now his heart was at becoming a stronger player and Koutarou had no right to take this from him. The only thing he could do was to help Akaashi (and himself) get better and better and try to bring the team to Nationals and achieve their goal. Then maybe he could ask him to be a part of his heart in his turn.

  
  


On one December night, when the new cold of winter had just settled on the land and their breaths made clouds of mist in the air on their way home, Koutarou made one of his first mistakes.

They were walking from the station and as usual it wouldn’t take long for them to reach Akaashi’s home. Koutarou wished he could spend more time with him but his own home wasn’t very far anyway.

They were chatting about everything and nothing, but mostly about Koutarou’s failing marks and Akaashi suggested to Koutarou they could study together on the weekends at Akaashi’s house. Of course, Koutarou was delighted and accepted on the spot.

Then he said, “I’m also super happy I will meet your parents!” He thought he was very clever as he actually already knew what they looked like since they already appeared in his dream. “I wonder if they’re like you?”

When Koutarou saw Akaashi’s face pulling down in a light frown, he knew he had said something bad.

Akaashi cleared his throat, “It’s only my father Bokuto-san, my mother has passed away.”

Koutarou stopped in his trail. Akaashi’s mother was dead. The woman he met in his dreams the day he met Akaashi was no longer part of his life. A billion questions came to his mind.  _ When did she die? Did you miss her? How did she die? Was she a painter? _ But of course some of these questions would make Akaashi feel bad. And some of them might even give away that Koutarou already knew Akaashi from a soulmate dream.

Akaashi turned back to look at him. “It’s okay Bokuto-san, you didn’t know.”

“I-I’m sorry,” is all he said before catching up to Akaashi.

His mother, the woman Koutarou saw in his dream all those years ago at Akaashi’s side, when he discovered his face, was dead. That might even have been the reason why Koutarou got so lucky to see his soulmate face in his dreams. Dream memories were linked to powerful emotions, good or bad, everybody knew it. And as Koutarou now understood it, he might have been lucky because this specific memory of Akaashi was deeply linked to his love for his deceased mother.

Koutarou was horrified. Lately, he often thought about revealing to Akaashi they were soulmates. He was pleased by the idea of being able to act in a more romantic way with him. But in regard to the truth he just discovered, Koutarou silently made the promise, to never, ever speak of this dream to Akaashi. If them being together meant bringing up to his soulmate a painful memory he might not want to relive, Koutarou would have to bury this secret as deep as he could and never speak of it.

  
  


_ Keiji opened his eyes, he was on a volleyball court. The net was lower than usual, balls were scattered across what looked like a school gymnasium, with its basketball baskets bent toward the ceiling and its stage for the morning ceremony. Though Keiji couldn’t recognize the emblem pinned on the wall. It wasn’t Fukurodani or any school he ever attended. _

_ Then he was running towards the net and jumped. The net seemed high from his point of view and yet at the highest point of his jump he could clearly see above it. He heard a  _ pow _ and realized his hand had slammed a ball on the other side of the net, in the 3 meters. _

When Keiji woke up this morning, he couldn’t help but smile. His soulmate played volleyball.

  
  


“Bokuto-san, Coach said you should at least eat a banana, you have to gather some strength for our match against Shiratorizawa.”

“What? Oh alright, thanks ‘Kaashi.”

Koutarou wasn’t afraid of Shiratorizawa Academy but they had strong players. Koutarou was also a strong player but he felt like he wasn’t at his best since the beginning of Nationals. 

Something was missing. 

He had a hard time keeping up the pace and some of his spikes were sloppy. If he was honest, he knew what was missing: he’d been training with Akaashi for months, they had their routine. But his favorite setter wasn’t in the starting roster and he had to deal with a setter he had less synergy with. His senpai was an awesome player, there was no doubt about it, but Koutarou felt in sync with Akaashi in a way it was hard to explain. Koutarou chuckled at his own misfortune; of course they were good when with each other because they were made for each other.

They lost the match against Shiratorizawa and for the first time Koutarou thought not telling Akaashi he was his soulmate might have been a mistake since the beginning.

  
  


“It sucks that we have to go home already,” Yukie stretched her arms over her head and yawned. “Me and some other manager girls sleeping in the same hotel had planned to have a pampering date tonight, you know, because they say the third day is the worst and everyone should rest well the night before?”

Koutarou slid his face through the headrests to intervene, “Damn, managers have it so easy!” 

“Right, like waking up at five in the morning before everyone else is having it easy to you?” Yukie counters back. “I was really looking forward to it though. I never told you this but, you remember I said my soulmate is a girl right?” Konoha, who sat across the alley, perked up and nodded seriously. “Well, she also likes skincare apparently, once I saw her removing a sheet mask, I remember the feeling of wetness and her nail painted in black.” She put back a strand of hair behind her ear, “It may be naive but I was thinking, a bunch of volleyball girls from everywhere around the country doing a pampering night, I might have had a good chance to meet her there.”

Yukie’s face was red from blushing, “I know we’re not supposed to try and make things happen, that fate will take care of everything, but you know sometimes you can’t help to wonder…”

Akaashi turned on his seat to face her, “You seem to know a lot about your soulmate already Yukie-san. What else do you know about her?”

Yukie’s face brightened, she put a pointing finger on her chin and looked up to think, “Well not much more. I know she’s a girl obviously, as I told you I know she likes skincare, she puts on nail polish, and she has a sister.”

“How do you know all this?” Akaashi asked. “I rarely dream of something significant about my soulmate.”

Yukie darted a look towards Koutarou. He slid down his face from between the headrest and could feel his cheeks heating up.

“Err, well you know it’s more an impression I get when I wake up. I think my soulmate must have a strong love for her sister and I think she is the one who got her into skincare, makeup and nail polish, or something like that.”

“You said makeup, did you see her face or something?” Konoha asked from behind Akaashi.

“No, I didn’t but I just assume, she puts on makeup too.” Yukie shrugged. 

“It looks like you’re making a lot of assumptions,” Konoha mutters.

Yukie leaned down to look at him directly. “It’s just a feeling I have you know, I might be mistaken, but these things are mostly girls stuff.” She nagged at Konoha before turning back towards Akaashi. “But why do you ask anyway Akaashi-kun? Do you have any new information about your soulmate?”

Akaashi sat back in his seat and looked at his hands. A faint blush appeared across his nose bridge, “They like volleyball,” he simply said.

Both Konoha and Yukie burst out laughing as if it was the best joke they ever heard. Koutarou crossed his arms and bent his head, trying to make himself forgettable.

“Of course they do, Akaashi-kun,” Yukie said fondly.

Koutarou pretended to sleep during the rest of the short journey back to the school.

  
  


“Enough, Bokuto!” Yukie was mad at him. “We understand why you can’t tell Akaashi is your soulmate, but the volleyball season is over and it won’t be back until next month, so stop moping around and ask him on a date.”

Koutarou was hiding under his school desk. Today Akaashi was spending lunch with some girls from his class and Koutarou was jealous.

“But I can’t make him fall in love with me, volleyball is too important,” he said with a wet voice.

Konoha sighed, “But there’s nothing wrong about flirting. Flirting is good, you can flirt without being in a relationship.”

“Yeah, take this time to get to know him romantically, you will end up with him after all, even if it’s not for now you should at least express your feelings for him.”

What Yukie suggested wasn’t entirely wrong. It’s true that Koutarou and Akaashi  _ would  _ end up together one way or another, there was nothing bad to set the bases of their future relationship right away.

“Hmm,” Koutarou grumbled.

“Bokuto-san?” Akaashi was calling him from the corridor leading to the class. “Someone from your class told me you weren’t feeling good.”

“‘Kaashi?”

Koutarou looked towards the door, Akaashi really was the prettiest man on earth, the sight of him alone was already making Koutarou feel better.

Yukie, looked at her wrist where she didn’t wear any watch, “Oh, see what time is it Konoha? We definitely should go.” Konoha gave her a questioning look, but understood quickly what she meant when she grabbed his hand to make him follow her outside the class. “See you later guys.”

Akaashi stepped into the room, “What is it Bokuto-san?”

_ Just ask him on a date, Koutarou. _ His mouth refused to move, he could feel his palms getting sweaty.

“Would you-”  _ You can do it, Koutarou! _ “Would you like to see the sakura’s blossom with me at Mukaihara?”

Akaashi crouched to be at eye level with him, “Is the cherry blossom the reason for your mood, Bokuto-san?”

“Yes!” Koutarou had to find something to say, “Nobody wants to come with me!”

Akaashi crossed his arms over his knees and smiled softly at him, “I would love to go see the blossoms with you, Bokuto-san.”

  
  


Mukaihara was a very small park in Kotakecho, not very far from where Akaashi lived. When they arrived some people were already drinking and singing in the chill of the early spring night.

Koutarou was excited for his first date with Akaashi.  _ Alright _ , he never told him it was a date but it still counted. When they were together for real and for ever, they’d surely remember this date as their first date anyway.

Koutarou unfolded the picnic blanket he had brought with him and they found a spot near the little pond across the playground. The crowd was mostly composed of some old people from the area. Young children were playing on the slide and around the swings. The sakura’s blossom was one of Koutarou’s favorite parts of the year. It was when everybody gathered, like this night, under the cherry trees to chat and have fun with friends, family, and neighbours.

Akaashi gave Koutarou a blanket and took one for himself. Koutarou opened his backpack to grab a bottle of tea and two cups.

“This one is milk tea, I hope it’s okay with you.”

Koutarou was nervous, even though he really didn’t have anything to be nervous about. Akaashi willingly accepted to come with him and for him it wasn’t a date after all. 

Except that for Koutarou it was and Akaashi was beautiful. The streetlights were high above the trees and the light passing through the flowers was hitting his face in irregular spots. Koutarou couldn’t help but follow them with his gaze as Akaashi was moving. It was like the night itself wanted to show Koutarou how perfect his soulmate was, by highlighting every small bit of his delicate figure.

“It’s fine, I like milk tea.” Akaashi opened the plastic bag he was carrying and took out two plastic containers, “I’ve brought some fruits and the daifukus my grandmother made this morning.” Koutarou’s eyes widened at the sight of the sweets, “She made them especially because I told her we were going to see the cherry trees blossom together.”

Koutarou looked back at Akaashi with a big smile, “You’re grandma is so cool ‘Kaashi! You’ll have to thank her for me!”

“I’m sure she’ll be pleased to hear you think she’s  _ cool _ because she made us some sweets, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi chuckled and Koutarou felt it in his chest.

“I love sweets,” Koutarou said with a bashful smile, suddenly very aware of his heating face.

Akaashi opened the containers. “Me too,” he said smiling fondly.

Maybe Akaashi was a vegetarian but at least he shared Koutarou’s love for sweets. The more they spent time together, the more Koutarou was learning new things about his soulmate, and the more he was sure fate wasn’t mistaken about their compatibility. He could only hope Akaashi would feel the same way when he would find out they’re soulmates.

Koutarou served the tea while Akaashi opened the containers. Koutarou gave Akaashi his cup of tea and they wrapped themselves in blankets to fight the cold air of the night. Most adults present were probably drinking sake or beer so they wouldn’t feel too cold but the tea of the two highschoolers wasn't strong enough to keep them warm. The mood was light and cheerful, a group of old men next to Koutarou and Akaashi suddenly stood up and started singing a classic Japanese pop song.

Akaashi was laughing at the show, most of them were probably tipsy and kept swaying from side to side on their feet. The little crowd of the park were cheering on them and some even sang with them. At the end of the song the men bowed for the audience and everyone applauded, but when they bent back to stand up, one of the men lost his balance and fell back, right into the little pond in a big splash. The man was soon carried out of the water by his friends and looked alright, no arm was done.

When Koutarou looked back at Akaashi he realised his crush was completely drenched. He must have taken most of the splash when the man fell.

"’Kaashi!" Koutarou screeched before jumping on his knees and scooching toward him.

“I’m fine Bokuto-san, the blanket took most of it, only my hair is a bit damp.” Akaashi unwrapped himself from the blanket and put it to the side. He shivered.

“You’re cold ‘Kaashi,” Koutarou pointed out.

“It’s alright, I can bear it for a while.”

“No, no,” Koutarou took off the blanket from around his shoulders, “take mine, I don’t need it.”

Akaashi looked at him with a cut-the-crap-Bokuto-san face, the one he was saving for when Koutarou was obviously saying something stupid. Koutarou felt the hair on the back of his head rising up.

“A-alright, then maybe we can share mine?” Koutarou asked, hoping he wasn’t saying something stupid again.

He felt like he might have when Akaashi’s eyes widened. But then a faint blush appeared on his cheeks, barely hidden by the shadows of the blossom while he answered, “Yes, I guess we can.”

Akaashi put his cup to the side and moved closer to Koutarou. It’s only when Koutarou started to cover the other’s back with the blanket that he realised he had to press his body against Akaashi’s if he wanted them both to fit under it. Koutarou swallowed heavily but tried to not show any hesitation, there was nothing wrong about two friends sitting side by side, so close to each other. He sat beside Akaashi, his right shoulder and hip flushed against his soulmate. Even if the situation was a bit embarrassing, at least they were now both warm enough.

“Is this ok?” Koutarou couldn’t help himself checking on Akaashi. This wasn’t the time to screw everything up.

“Yes, Bokuto-san. Thank you, I feel very warm,” Akaashi seemed unfazed by the whole situation and Koutarou wondered if that would be the case if he knew they were soulmates.

“Should we eat the daifukus?” Akaashi asked, tearing him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah they look delicious!” Koutarou cheered.

They both took one, white powder falling from the sweets dusting over the blanket. Koutarou took a bite and it was like chomping onto a piece of cloud. He closed his eyes and hummed. It was soft and sweet and mushy and gooey. It was exactly how Koutarou’s heart felt right now, pressed flush against his crush’s side, warm and alleviated, like floating into a fuzzy pool of cotton clouds and cherry blossom petals.

When he opened his eyes again they landed on Akaashi’s delighted face. He was holding his pastry with both his hands and was munching on it like a cute small animal. Koutarou couldn’t help but stare.

Akaashi opened his eyes and peered at him, raising a questioning eyebrow, “Do I have something on my face?”

Koutarou snapped right back to himself, Akaashi was so beautiful he surprised himself more than once, staring at him without even knowing it. Hopefully the latter never noticed it but Konoha and Yukie sure did and had a lot of fun teasing him about it. Anyway, Koutarou would have it easy to get out of this one.

“Yes, you have rice powder all over your mouth ‘Kaashi,” which was actually true but it was impossible to eat fresh daifukus without making a mess anyway, “Your grandma wouldn’t be very proud of you,” Koutarou teased.

Akaashi chuckled and wiped his mouth with his free hand, and smirked “Well,  obāchan wouldn’t be very proud of you either Bokuto-san, you’ve got some far up on your cheek.”

Koutarou squawked and scrubbed his face vigorously.

“Nope the other side,” Akaashi instructed and Koutarou wiped his left cheek with the back of his hand.

Akaashi laughed, “Now you just smudged it.” He brought his hand to Koutarou’s face, “Let me,” he said and Koutarou stood completely still, realizing just a bit too late what was happening.

Everything felt like it was in slow motion. Akaashi, smiling softly, pressing his thumb against Koutarou’s mouth and stroking upward to his cheek, slightly dragging Koutarou’s upper lip in the motion. The heat of the hand cupping his jaw, Akaashi’s fingers grazing his skin and lingering under his jawline when they withdrew. Koutarou’s heart stopped for a second and he knew would remember this moment until the day he died.

Then Akaashi must have realized what he had done because his face suddenly turned pink and Koutarou could see it perfectly despite the dim light.

Koutarou couldn’t tear his eyes away from him. He was gorgeous, surely the blossoms must have been jealous of Akaashi’s pale skin dusted in pink. His beauty was so surreal, it was like looking at a painting, something that could only appear in someone’s fantasies

_ Ah _ .

The thought brutally brought him back to the present. To  _ why _ he wasn’t actually leaning forward to kiss him right here, right now. He remembered the painting. The one he never saw in Akaashi’s house, but knew was there somewhere. The one his mother painted before she died.  _ Maybe it was hidden away? _ He felt the insidious sting of guilt pierce through his chest.

He forced a cough to try to get rid of it.

“They’re really good,” he said to distract his brain, “the daifukus. Thank your grandma for me.”

Akaashi beamed at him and Koutarou’s eyes drifted away to look at the flowers, he couldn’t face this right now.

“I’m glad you have her you know.”

He looked back at Akaashi, eyes wide, surprised himself by what he just said.

Akaashi’s smile softened. “Yeah…”

A moment passed without them saying anything.

“I know I said nothing before, and it’s not that I don’t want to talk about it, it’s just that I don’t want to bother you with my personal stuff, Bokuto-san.”

Akaashi's voice was low but also steady and the smile didn’t leave his face.

“No, no, you don’t, I mean I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to seem cruel but if you wanna talk about it please do! I’ll be glad to hear about your mom ‘Kaashi!” Koutarou bumped him lightly with his shoulder, “You can tell me anything,” he added softly.

Akaashi stared at him for a second holding his tea with both hands, then his eyes dropped and his smile flattened a bit.

“She died when I was eleven. From cancer.”

Koutarou didn’t say anything, Akaashi continued.

“She was awesome. A true ordinary hero you know, she’s the one who bought our house, picked my school, she helped me with homework, she even found my father’s job.” He brought his tea to his lips. “She was doing everything to take care of us,” he took a sip, “because she knew she would have to leave us eventually.”

His eyes went back on Koutarou, piercing, like he was waiting for him to say something. But what could he say? What could anyone say in this situation? Akaashi didn’t seem sad, but he seemed hurt, or more wounded, like something just kicked him in the gusts.

So Koutarou said what he thought Akaashi wanted to hear. “She seems very cool.”

Akaashi’s smile turned into a thin line, one of his hands dropped to his knee. “She was.” His fingers curled into the fabric of his pants. “But it was hard you know, especially for an eleven years old boy.”

Koutarou wanted to take his hand, he wanted to smooth him down. It was tempting, but wasn’t the time nor the moment to flirt with his crush.

“I cannot imagine how hard it must be to lose your mother.” Again he felt pathetic not knowing what he could say. Akaashi was his soulmate, he should have prepared for this moment, and yet he was here saying banalities while the boy he loved was opening himself to him.

To this day again, Koutarou can’t even imagine the face he must have made when Akaashi suddenly grabbed his hand without warning. He stared at their linked hands, now resting where Akaashi’s was a second before, on his knee. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t imagining it, and once he was sure his hand was firmly gripped without any way of escaping, by Akaashi, he looked at his face searching for answers.

It’s when he realized his face was dark, as if all the lights who were chasing him the minute before were now avoiding him.

“Can I tell you something bad? Something I didn’t even say to my father?”

Koutarou tried to act relaxed even if his gusts were churning. “Sure.”

“Toward the end,” His voice went a few levels down, like he didn’t want to be heard. “I sometimes wished everything was over sooner, because it was exhausting. I hated to see her like that.”

Koutarou held on his breath, he didn’t expect such a harsh revelation from oh-so-sweet Akaashi.

His crush looked down, his voice was barely a whisper now and Koutarou had to concentrate if he wanted to hear what Akaashi was saying. The noise from the crowd around them almost made him miss what he said.

“And sometimes I hate myself for having thought this.”

Koutarou almost jerked back. He couldn’t imagine someone like Akaashi, so perfect, having those kinds of thoughts. He had to do something. His first reflex was to squeeze his hand hard to get his attention. 

“I get the feeling what you’re telling me is pretty big for you,” he leaned closer into Akaashi’s space, “and I wish I knew what I’m supposed to say right now.”

His other hand came to his Akaashi’s cheek, the fear of intimacy completely gone at this point. His soulmate wasn’t feeling well and his heart and his whole body were screaming at him to make him feel better.

“Listen to me Kaashi.” The boy brought his attention to him. Koutarou looked deeply into his dark blue eyes, like he could find in them the answer to all his questions. “What you felt is valid, you were young and sad, and it’s normal to want it to end. No one likes to feel sad. especially if you know what’s coming.” He stroked his thumb over Akaashi’s cheekbone. “You’re one of the kindest and most generous people I know,” he leaned a bit closer, their noses were almost touching, “I can’t let you depreciate yourself like this, because it’s just not the truth.” He smiled warmly before adding, “I can’t let you talk bad about my best friend.”

Akaashi’s eyes grew suddenly wide and a pout started to draw on his lips. Koutarou was afraid he was about to cry, so squeezed his hand one more time to give him strength. He leaned back and waited, always smiling at him. He would be here for him, whatever it would take.

Akaashi huffed a laugh, it was more like a sob with a smile, but still, it was a victory.

“Thank you, Bokuto-san.”

He nuzzled into Koutarou’s hand still holding him, then leaned back in his turn, putting some more distance between them. Koutarou looked around them and the ace suddenly realized where they were and in what position they had been. People must have taken them for a couple. Koutarou felt his cheeks grew warmer by the second.

He cleared his throat. “Y-you’re welcome.” He removed his hand from Akaashi’s face as if it was fire, he wasn’t supposed to touch him like this. “I’m serious though.”

“I know,” Akaashi smiled back at him, “your sincerity is your strength Bokuto-san. I like it.”

Koutarou wanted to answer  _ I love you _ , but he couldn’t, not here, not like this. They were still young; they had to focus on their classes and volleyball. They had to win Nationals. Bokuto had to win Nationals with Akaashi, for Akaashi, and then they could be together as proper soulmates. He had to make his wish come true. The boy had lost so much already, he had to do it for him.

Koutarou sighed to get rid of the tension that was building up in his shoulders. Akaashi seemed to feel it as well as he took another sip of his tea and looked away. Their hands were still linked on Akaashi’s thigh and Koutarou could only hope one day it would mean the same to Akaashi that it meant for him.

  
  


_ Keiji, no, his soulmate, felt his cheek pressed against a cool material, ceramic maybe? It was white, he might be facing down a sink. His neck - not  _ his _ but his soulmate’s - was hurting because of the inadequate position. But the strangest thing was this constant buzzing sound and he could taste salt on his lips. Keiji didn’t know what was going on but his soulmate seemed scared, panicked even, they clearly didn’t want to be here. Keiji could feel this fear and wanted to comfort them but he couldn’t. It was a dream, a memory, it already happened.  _

_ Was it tears Keiji felt on his lips? _

_ And suddenly everything became clear on what was happening, as a long strand of soft dark hair fell in front of his eyes. Some of it fell on his face and it was itching his nose badly. He couldn’t help himself to notice his head was itching too. He felt big warm tears rolling down his soulmate’s face as another strand of hair fell in the sink. _

_ “Nee-san, why?” It was the voice of a young boy coming out from his mouth. It wasn’t a cry, it was a supplication. _

_ If the buzzing sound could stop, if they could just look up in the mirror, Keiji would know their face, know who they are. _

_ "Because you got lice from school baby bro. I’m sorry but it’s the quickest way to get rid of it.” _

Suddenly the buzzing sound stopped and Keiji woke up. He could swear he was still feeling the salt in his mouth and the itch in his nose, but he was in his bed, smiling.

His soulmate was a boy.

  
  


A new school year was beginning, Koutarou was a third-year and the captain of his team. Of course, when he was asked who he would consider as vice captain he immediately mentioned Akaashi and everyone agreed with him. It just felt right, and Koutarou was secretly celebrating his soulmate and him reigning on the Fukurodani Academy volleyball team. It felt like a consecration, the ultimate sign Akaashi and he were right for each other.

They were more in sync than they ever had. Their game was like a very well-polished choreography. Akaashi sets were aiming at all of Koutarou’s preferred spots, making him dance through the court like it was his own kingdom. Koutarou was now bigger and stronger, each of his spikes hitting the floor with a satisfying  _ pow. _ They were powerful.

The first match of the season was coming along for Fukurodani and for Koutarou, as the new captain, it was time to show what he was worth. They were playing against a team from Nagano. Koutarou had heard one of their players was the little brother of Hirugami  Shōko  and Hirugami  Fukurō, two division-one volleyball players Koutarou admired for their consistency. Some local news were recording the event and coach Yamiji had told them Volleyball Magazine was doing a paper on the match.

They won the first set, the Hirugami brother was good but he clearly suffered from his siblings' comparison. The player who gave them the more trouble was actually a little second year with very powerful jumps. Komemodai High won the second set, not without fighting for it though, Fukurodani managed to chase them after a deuce for five more points.

When the third set began, Koutarou knew they would win. When his first spike landed on the other side of the net right in the three meters, his specialty, he knew they were able to defeat anyone standing in their way.

They were calm and focused. Akaashi’s face was softer than he ever was, with no harsh lines cutting his features, peaceful, like he was more likely sunbathing at the edge of a pool rather than in the middle of a volleyball match. Konoha was having fun, laughing and joking with Saru. Even Washio was chatting with him from time to time.

Koutarou kept landing spikes in their defence’s holes, taking advantage of every mistake they made. Komi was lifting up most of the opponent's attempts at scoring and saved some block points more than once.

They were leading on the scoreboard, not from far, but they still had the upper hand. The points were adding up slowly but steadily. Komemodai stayed on their tail until a second deuce, but Koutarou wasn’t afraid. They got this.

Coach Yamiji called for their last time out, they gathered around him, but he said nothing. No one was saying a word, the whole team was standing there smiling sufficiently, and it’s when Koutarou realised they were waiting for him to speak.

He put an arm around Akaashi’s shoulder, his vice captain, his pillar, his partner.

“We’re gonna win.” He simply said.

And everyone burst out laughing, even the coach, because they knew he was right.

The referee called for the end of time out and they got back on the court.

Kamemodai were apparently on the starting blocks waiting for them, the Hirugami boy was serving, it was high and powerful. Komi received it, but badly and the ball went directly over the net, giving a free ball to Komemodai. Fukurodani urged back in a defensive position. One of the Komemodai middle blockers received the ball but it was short and their setter had to come to his spot to reach it. He tossed it for the small second year, Hoshiumi, who spiked it right into the three metters. But Konoha was here and used to Koutarou’s spikes.

“Got it!”

He pushed it up so nice and high towards Akaashi’s post, the latter just had to shift a little bit to face his hitters. Koutarou was right here just beside him already jumping when the ball came to him and he spiked it right at the feet of their libero without giving him the chance to react.

They were leading by one point, the next one will be their victory.

It was Washio serving, his long and lanky limbs giving him just the right extension to snap serves like a sling throwing rocks. The short seagull-kun received it and this time the ball crossed the court to their setter. He went for a quick to Hirugami, Koutarou heard the crack of his hand smacking the ball, but didn’t see where it went, the boy  _ had _ some power in him. Thankfully Komi received it perfectly, killing its momentum with his whole body and ending up on his back. The ball went up, high, almost touching the ceiling, hopefully it didn’t and Akaashi had all the time needed to get in place for his last set.

Koutarou was on the other side of the court, he knew the ball was coming for him, so he got himself ready. He started to run when he saw Akaashi jump, ready to give Komemodai a taste of their own medicine, but the ball never came and instead fell on the other side of the net.

The crowd cheered, Akaashi looked at him with a sheepish grin. No one had expected a dump to score the very least point of the game, not even Koutarou, and Akaashi knew it, and he used it. If Koutarou wasn’t already in love with him, he would have been after this.

Koutarou stayed where he was, watching all his team jumping around Akaashi. They were all laughing and cheering. The commentators were baffled by Akaashi’s boldness, the crowd was chanting their name, today everyone had witnessed Fukurodani’s power.

Akaashi was still looking at him. Koutarou clenched his fist and threw it in the air shouting. Akaashi and the rest of the team joined him to celebrate their victory.

They were the protagonists of the world.

  
  


Summer was coming up and with it training camp. Koutarou was excited because this time a new team would show up: the crows from Karasuno. He heard a lot about them, of course. He was a captain now; he had to keep up with what was happening in the enemy ranks. Kuroo, the captain of Nekoma and his long-time rival or  _ frenemy  _ as you could put it, told him all about the training match his team fought against them.

Apparently, the crows enlisted a new genius setter who created all kinds of new plays for their team. Of course Koutarou was claiming to anyone who wanted to hear that the best setter was Akaashi and no kid can be as awesome as his best friend.

Regardless, everyone was excited to meet this new team. They lived far up to the North in Miyagi prefecture so when they arrived, everyone was already here to welcome them. The mood was electric, captains exchanging glances, eying their new opponents.

Strangely enough, Akaashi seemed to be the most interested in Karasuno. As soon as the crows stepped out of the bus he couldn’t tear his eyes off of them. Koutarou took it as some especially intense rivalry and didn’t think much of it afterward.

Sadly, two of the new recruits weren’t with them yet as they had to take supplementary exams and of course, like a twisted scheme of fate, the new setter was one of them.

Fukurodani wasn't playing during the first rounds of matches so they took some time to look at their new opponents' match during their warm-ups. They were playing against Ubugawa and they were being  _ destroyed _ . Even if at some point one of their wing spikers (the bald one who looked like a yankee) managed a beautiful cross spike they clearly weren’t on top of their game. It was kind of sad but that was how you learned, Koutarou mused.

There was clearly nothing to be afraid of about them but Akaashi kept looking and staring at their players for a reason Koutarou couldn’t apprehend.

Almost at the end of the day, the sun was setting down, casting golden rays above the facilities. Koutarou, Akaashi, and Konoha were taking a break drinking water on the grass patch in front of the main gym. Suddenly a little cubic white car stormed into the parking lot at full speed and made a loud screeching sound when the conductor abruptly hit the breaks. At the same time one of the wing spikers from Karasuno, the one with a buzzcut, got out of the gym to welcome the car passengers, closely followed by their enthusiastic little libero.

“Nee-san!” They both cheered in unison.

Koutarou raised an eyebrow and looked at Konoha.

“Ah right,” Konoha snapped his fingers. “I think Yukie mentioned Karasuno’s setter and middle blocker would arrive with one of the player’s sister.” 

Koutarou hummed in acknowledgement.

It wasn’t hard to decipher whose sister it was. She was short with a blond bowl cut but other than that she looked exactly identical to the buzzcut yankee. She was flanked by a tall sinister dark-haired boy and a little red-haired bouncing up and down to meet his teammates.

Koutarou snorted, he was pleased to see that much enthusiasm. “The tall one must be that genius setter Kuroo told us about.”

Konoha cocked his head to the side. “I don’t want to be mean but the other one seems to be even shorter than this seagull boy from Komemodai, are we sure he is on the starting roster.”

“You know height isn’t everything.” Koutarou countered, “Right ‘Kaashi?”

Akaashi seemed lost in his thoughts, he was eying the other players intensely. He blinked and turned toward Koutarou with big eyes. “What?” He asked, uncharacteristically phased out. He was apparently not aware of what the discussion was about.

“I was saying that even small players could be good players.”

“Oh right, right.”

Koutarou smiled because he liked when Akaashi agreed with him, but Akaashi seemed to be elsewhere, like something was bothering him. He might be concerned by the new setter. If he was that good, of course Mister Perfectionist Akaashi would take it as a personal challenge and would start to get too much in his head. Koutarou made a mental note to check on it at the end of the day.

The rest of the day went smoothly, after all those two new players weren’t as scary as Kuroo had suggested. They had a good dynamic, but not as good as Akaashi and Koutarou and the little red hair wasn’t very good at volleyball in general. There was nothing to be afraid of.

But it didn’t seem to smother Akaashi, he was still eying Karasuno from the other side of the gym, like he wanted to figure out something. Koutarou wasn’t worried. Akaashi was clever, way more clever than him. If there was something to figure out he would certainly succeed.

With the day of training finally over, it was time for, you guessed it, more training. To Koutarou, this week with some of the best players of high school volleyball was the best occasion to perfect his game and his favorite part of the day was the extra hours they got to have some personal practice. And of course it meant he got to spend more time with Akaashi and Kuroo, two of his bestest friends  _ and _ very good players. He considered himself very lucky.

The practice went well, at some point the short ginger and the tall blond middle blockers from Karasuno joined them. They were a lot of fun; the little one,  _ Hinata _ , was full of energy and really competitive, which compensated for his teammate, Tsukibalala (Koutarou had trouble remembering his name) who was very snarky and looked bored behind his thick glasses, but Koutarou thought it was funny anyway. Akaashi seemed to get along well with this one and Koutarou was glad he was making friends among the newcomers.

When it was time to clean up, before heading to the cafeteria, Koutarou surprised a conversation between Akaashi and his new friend in the supply room.

“And what’s his name?” Akaashi was asking.

“Ryuunosuke Tanaka. And his sister is Saeko Tanaka.”

“I see.” Akaashi paused. “Thanks, Tsukishima-kun.” He said before leaving the room, unfortunately he bumped into Koutarou on his way out.

Koutarou quickly wrapped his arms around him, to prevent him from falling.

“Ah! Sorry ‘Kaashi!”

Akaashi looked at him with very confused eyes, red dusted all over his face. He pushed him gently away to get out of his grasp and mumbled, “It’s okay Bokuto-san, see you at the cafeteria.” before hurrying toward the gym entry without even a second look at his captain.

Akaashi was more quiet than usual that evening, after eating he took a quick shower before going to bed right away instead of joining Koutarou, Kuroo and Hinata to play cards. It made Koutarou a bit sad because they had planned to play cards every night together, but if Akaashi was tired it was better for him to go to bed.

Koutarou was excited to get to be with Akaashi all the time during that week at training camp, but it was only the first day and he could feel that something wasn’t right. He could only hope it was maybe the stress to play against a bunch of good players. He wished he knew how to help him. He just wanted to be with him. He even considered going to sleep early with him, just to  _ be _ there, but what was the point if he was asleep?

If he wasn’t feeling better in the morning, Koutarou would talk to him, or even would talk about it to Yukie. This week was supposed to be fun and he couldn’t have his vice captain not having fun at training camp.

The next morning Akaashi seemed to feel way better, when Koutarou arrived at the cafeteria for breakfast, he spotted him chatting and laughing with Kuroo at the Nekoma table.

Koutarou beamed looking at them for a moment, then Konoha bumped his shoulder passing by and he went grab a bowl of rice and some mackerel before joining them, the big smile still plastered on his face.

  
  


The following night Koutarou was suddenly woken up in his sleep by…  _ a laugh? _ He peered an eye open to analyze his surroundings and find the source of the laughter. At his left Konoha was sound asleep. He turned around and found Akaashi cackling in his sleep like he was having the time of his life. He considered for a second if he should wake him up or not, but if he didn’t he would probably wake up the whole team and they had to rest if they wanted to be awesome as usual during their matches.

"Psst, ‘Kaashi."

No answer. Akaashi’s shoulders were still moving frantically.

Koutarou reached for him and grabbed his arm to still him. He shook him slightly. Akaashi went into another round of laughter. Koutarou got on his knees and crawled toward Akaashi. Once he was above him he put his hands on both of his shoulders and shook him a bit more roughly this time.

It had the desired effect as Akaashi suddenly opened his eyes, like he was already awake for hours. He was looking at Koutarou with wide eyes and his grin flattened as he was taking in the situation.

Koutarou jolted and suddenly let go of his shoulders. “You were laughing loudly,'' he whispered.

Akaashi raised an eyebrow, “I was, wasn’t I?”

“Yes,” Koutarou sat back on his knees, “What was your dream? It must have been nice.”

“I think I was dreaming about my soulmate,” Akaashi said softly.

Koutarou’s stomach did a backflip. One of his memories made Akaashi laugh harder than he ever had seen him laugh.

“What was it about?” Koutarou urged, a little bit too loudly.

Akaashi blinked looking at the ceiling then got up on one of his elbows to face Koutarou.

“I-I don’t really remember,” he whispered, “but my soulmate was in class, there was a bird and they seemed to be in trouble, I can’t remember why I was laughing though.”

_ Middle school, the parrot incident, Konoha even peed his pants from laughter that day. _ Koutarou had to mental note to remember to tell this story to Akaashi when they would be together, but for now they had to get back to sleep.

“It must have been very funny, I never saw you laughing like that. Your laugh is nice,” Koutarou said shyly.

“Oh,” Akaashi let himself fall back on his futon and brought his cover over his nose, “Thank you, Bokuto-san.” He mumbled.

Koutarou crawled back into his own futon, and laid down. “Good night ‘Kaashi,” he whispered.

“Good night Bokuto-san,” Akaashi whispered back.

Koutarou let sleep hug him tightly in his arms and this night he dreamed about Akaashi’s laugh.

  
  


The rest of the week went smoothly. Akaashi was back to himself, he was still sometimes weirdly eying the crows’ team but besides that he seemed to enjoy himself. One day Koutarou even succeeded in making him stay up a little bit later to play cards but it was cut short as he fell asleep on Koutarou’s shoulder at some point and he had to carry him to bed.

On the last day was the event everyone and especially Koutarou was waiting for: the barbecue. It was supposed to be a secret, the coaches wanted to make it a surprise but Yukie, over-excited about anything related to food as always, had let it slip to Konoha who obviously told everyone else.

Koutarou even had some trouble concentrating during the matches in the morning because his head was elsewhere. He  _ loved _ meat, and especially grilled meat. He was ecstatic, he got to share a wonderful meal after a wonderful week with old and new friends. He wasn’t the only one excited, some of the Karasuno team even dedicated a song to a meat god and it was very funny to look at.

Nothing could have stained this moment.

And yet.

When they all finally had a plate in hand and were eating, the matches and the strain of the week long forgotten, Koutarou couldn’t find Akaashi. He saw him earlier with some of the Karasuno members but had disappeared soon after the first plate of onigiris the managers had brought. Koutarou decided to spend some more time with Kuroo and his best friend Kenma and the tall blond from Karasuno, they all called Tsukki now. His new little disciple, Hinata joined them at some point, he looked to get along well with Kenma, which was very impressive considering how Kenma was often too shy to mingle.

After Koutarou had finished his fourth plate of beef, corn, mushrooms and cabbage, there was still no sign of Akaashi. He was a vegetarian so Koutarou knew barbecues weren’t really his cup of tea but there were plenty of vegetables and some of the onigiris were also meatless, so if Akaashi was gone it couldn’t have been because of the food.

His absence was strange, and his behaviour during the whole week was somehow a bit concerning so Koutarou decided to try to find him and fix whatever problem he was facing.  _ Wasn’t it what soulmates were supposed to do for each other after all? _

Koutarou searched everywhere around the buildings but he found him inside the third gym, sitting on the bleachers, knees drawn to his chest despite the smothering heat of this long day of summer. 

When he saw him arriving, the dark-haired boy plunged his head on his knees, like he was trying to hide from his captain.

Koutarou squinted briefly and stopped, it was out of character for Akaashi to try to avoid him and yet it was what it looked like. Koutarou felt his chest tighten, maybe  _ he _ was the problem, maybe he had done something bad. It could help to know what though if he wanted to fix it.

He braced himself and joined Akaashi on the bleachers, sitting right next to him, his side flushed against his.

Akaashi scooted slightly away, “It’s hot.” He mumbled and it was like a dagger in Koutarou’s chest.

Koutarou felt his gust twisting but managed to smile anyway. “Ah sorry, habit.” He rested his hands on his own knees, he didn’t know what to do with them. It was strange he never felt like this around Akaashi. “So hmm, why aren’t you joining the others at the barbecue?”

“I’m a vegetarian, you know I don’t eat meat Bokuto-san.” Akaashi said, forehead still on his knees.

“Oh is that it? You know there’s a lot of vegetables, the corn is delicious and Yukie made some umeboshi onigiris!”

Akaashi lifted up his head to face Koutarou with a sigh. Koutarou had trouble keeping his smile, he could feel it tugging downward on his cheeks, but he had to keep it up for Akaashi’s sake.

“I’m sorry Bokuto-san but I’m not at my greatest right now.” His face looked tired. But not the _good_ _tired_ you get from training a lot or finishing a big load of homework. It was the _tired face_ people had sometimes when they poured all their strength into fighting something they couldn’t win against.

“I can see that, that’s why I’m here to cheer you up!”

Koutarou put one of his big hands on Akaashi’s knee. The latter looked at it, his eyes widening for a second, then he looked back at Koutarou, mouth slightly open. Koutarou raised an eyebrow. Akaashi looked on the verge of crying. Koutarou couldn’t let it happen.

“Do you-”

“I think I know who my soulmate is!” Akaashi blurted out, cutting him off.

It was like the sky was falling on Koutarou’s head. The whole sky with the clouds full of rain, the birds, the planes, the stars and the planets in their trail.

At first, Koutarou felt panic seize him.  _ How his well-guarded secret could have been discovered? _ But then he realized soon that it meant he wouldn’t have to lie to Akaashi anymore and that they could finally,  _ finally _ , be together.

A smile spread so quickly and so hard on his cheeks he couldn’t even feel his face.

He was about to cheer when he realized what kind of face Akaashi was making, he didn’t seem happy about it. Which was weird because he should have,  _ right _ ?

“It's wonderful news isn’t it ‘Kaashi?” Koutarou couldn’t hear himself talking over the sound of his heart hammering in his chest.

“I guess…”

That wasn’t the answer Koutarou had expected.

“You don’t seem as happy as I am, why is that?” Koutarou swallowed heavily.

“I know you are very fond of all those soulmate tales Bokuto-san,” Koutarou couldn’t concentrate on Akaashi’s voice, something was screaming at him to leave, to run away and hide, “but I’m not particularly happy about the idea of my soulmate being this guy I know nothing about, living four hours away in the mountains.”

_ What? _

It wasn’t what Koutarou had expected to hear.  _ At all _ . “What do you mean?”

Akaashi let out a heavy and shaky breath, “I think my soulmate might be Tanaka Ryuunosuke, the wing spiker from Karasuno, the one with the buzzcut.”

If the sky was falling on Koutarou a moment ago, now it felt like a rift in the universe had cracked just under his feet and swallowed him.

It was wrong, so very wrong. Should he tell him that he was mistaken, that his soulmate was indeed the guy sitting next to him right now? But if he would, what would happen to their plans on winning the nationals? If Akaashi was feeling that sad about his pretend soulmate what would it be if he knew his soulmate was one of his teammates, let alone his captain?

Koutarou couldn’t let that happen, but he had to restore the truth, Tanaka Ryuunosuke wasn’t his soulmate. But he couldn’t tell him how he knew it, he couldn’t provide any proof. But he had to try.

“Why do you think it’s him?” Koutarou asked carefully.

“I’m not sure, but…” Akaashi took his head in his hands. “I have had this feeling for a while now, that I would meet my soulmate soon-ish. Recently I started to dream more about his memories and every time I get a new clue about who he is.” Akaashi pushed the flat of his palm in his eyes. “I know he’s a boy, or at least presenting as a boy, I know he loves meat, he has a big sister, he sounds gushy and boisterous. And- And-” Akaashi’s voice was trembling, Koutarou had to summon all his strength to not cut him off and tell him that all those details could apply to other people, “And I know he shaves his hair.”

This one on the other hand was very… specific.

“I saw him in my dreams shaving his head, I remember the sound of the hair-clipper buzzing while hair was falling on his face.”

Koutarou immediately knew what Akaashi was referring to. This dark afternoon when Mikasa, the eldest of his sisters, had helped him shave his gorgeous black locks because a spread of lice at his school, was one of his saddest memories. It was since this awful event that once he got rid of the lice for good, he had decided to style his hair in the more glorious way.  _ It was impossible to forget. _

But how could he say this to Akaashi? Of course, he wanted to tell him the story and reassure him, but he would go against everything he worked for this past year, since he met him.

“‘Kaashi,” Koutarou grabbed his hands to remove them from his face and forced him to look at him, “The criteria you just listed could apply to a lot of people,” Akaashi’s eyes were red and his brows knitted together, “I’ll give you that the buzzcut seems to apply a lot to Karasuno’s number five, but a lot of boys shave their head through their youth, it might not necessarily means your soulmate is bald.” Akaashi’s furrow deepened. “I mean,  _ has a buzzcut _ .”

Akaashi sighed, “I’m sorry, maybe I got carried away, but I had this feeling the whole week.”

“What do you mean?” Koutarou asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Like I was about to meet him, like he was around and I just had to figure out who he was. These dreams seemed like a calling from fate, telling me they gave me all the clues I needed and I just had to look around me.” He squeezed Koutarou’s hands, “Is it weird?”

“No, I guess not, you’re supposed to be attracted physically to your soulmate, otherwise it would be almost impossible to meet them.” He said with what he hoped was a warm smile. “There are too many humans on the planet.” He added with a wink.

Akaashi smiled back at him but it was still a sad, tired smile.

“Maybe I’m mistaken…”

“You could still ask him.”

Koutarou, could only hope Tanaka knew enough about his own soulmate to lead Akaashi astray.

“No!” 

Akaashi’s sudden interjection made Koutarou jump slightly.

“No, if it’s really him I don’t want to know it for now, I will ask, but I have to concentrate on Nationals. For my team and for you, we trained too much for me to get deconcentrated now.”

Ah… They really were soulmates after all.

“Okay,” Koutarou said with a soft smile.

Akaashi closed his eyes and leaned his head against Koutarou’s shoulder. All types of feelings were swirling and mixing in his stomach but he had to stay strong for him. Hopefully in almost six months all of this would be over and Koutarou would be able to confess his love to Akaashi.

They stayed there together for a while, Akaashi breathing evenly against Koutarou’s chest, while the latter was petting his hair at the same rhythm.

When Akaashi looked up again, Koutarou found him with an inquisitive brow raised on his face.

“You never told me Bokuto-san, but what do  _ you _ know about your soulmate?”

There it was the dread question Koutarou was so afraid of hearing one day from Akaashi’s mouth. Now would be a good time to check on his lying skills, but he didn’t want to lie to Akaashi because he deserved better. So Koutarou settled on saying just enough of the truth but not too much.

“Let’s see, I know it’s a boy too… I know he plays volleyball of course, he has to, to be my soulmate.” Koutarou was still petting through Akaashi’s soft hair, and he could feel him shiver under his touch despite the hot weather. “I know he has black hair.” Koutarou didn’t have to tell a clue that important, but he couldn’t help himself, and a lot of people had black hair anyway. “I also know he is kind and clever.” Akaashi was now looking at him with big wide eyes and Koutarou felt like he was pulled toward them like he could dive into those dark blue ink pupils. “He has dark eyes.” Akaashi blinked rapidly, his lips were right here, pink, plumped and parted, welcoming, if Koutarou could only bend a few centimeters more and kiss them. “And I know he is the most beautiful person on the surface of the planet.” He said in a whisper.

Akaashi was blushing all over his face and his eyes, so wide, weren’t leaving Koutarou’s. His lips trembled and suddenly big tears were rolling down his cheeks.

He wriggled himself out of Koutarou’s embrace and wiped his eyes with the back of his hands.

“I’m sorry-”

“No, hey, hey, hey, ‘Kaashi. Don’t cry, why are you crying?”

“Because you obviously already love him so much, and- and-” his voice was hoarse, and he was stuttering with sobs.

“No hey, shh ‘Kaashi, I’m here alright,” Koutarou brought his hands on both sides of Akaashi’s face and wiped off the tears with his thumbs. “Don’t cry please, I’m sure you’ll love your soulmate as much as I’ll love mine,” Koutarou could only hope what he was saying would be true one day, “and you’ll make them very happy.” He knew this part was the truth though.

Akaashi gave him a faint nod. His eyes were red and his mouth pushed in a pout but he had stopped crying at least.

“How do you know your soulmate is beautiful? Do you know thei- his face?”

Koutarou squawked mentally and berated himself to have let slip such a big information.

“A-ah, I meant he  _ must  _ be gorgeous,”  _ nice save Koutarou _ , “however how could he keep up with my awesomeness?”

Akaashi chuckled softly, “Ah yes, I agree.”

Koutarou felt his stomach flutter,  _ Akaashi thought he was awesome _ . He knew one day, soon enough they would make the perfect couple, but it had to wait. A wave of mixed feelings washed over him, but he had to push them back and hide them under the rug of the present.

He smiled with the only smile he knew would cheer up Akaashi and get him out of his head, and stood up, stretching a hand to his crush.

“Let’s go, we’re gonna make a stop to the bathroom and then join the others, alright?”

“Alright Bokuto-san.” Akaashi took his hand and lifted himself up.

Koutarou started to walk down the bleachers’ stairs, but Akaashi tugged on his hand to stop him.

“Bokuto-san?” Akaashi was looking at his feet.

“Yes ‘Kaashi?”

He looked up at him, eyes dark and heavy and Koutarou felt a shudder roll down his spine with how intense his gaze was.

“Thank you.”

Koutarou felt like maybe there was more attached to these words than simple gratitude, but he didn’t dwell on it as he led Akaashi to the nearest bathroom, because while they were walking across the gym, his soulmate didn’t let go of his hand.

  
  


When they got back to the festivities in the parking lot, players were all mixed up, sitting onto the different patches of grass munching on slices of watermelon, chatting and laughing.

Akaashi’s face was less red but his eyes were still a bit swollen, when they joined back their friends. Kuroo shooted them a wary look but didn’t say anything and Koutarou silently thanked him for that.

Hinata gave them both a slice of watermelon with a beaming smile, and Akaashi started chatting with him like nothing had happened. Koutarou sighed with relief.

Koutarou was a good captain and he had to take care of his vice captain; so he thought he could find their managers to ask them if Akaashi could skip the last afternoon of training and go rest until the day was over.

Sadly Yukie and Kaori were nowhere to be found, and he had searched around the facilities already three times and had decided to give up when he stumbled upon Karasuno’s vice captain. The one with the mole and grey hair. Maybe he knew where all the managers had decided to disappear all at once.

“Ah! Excuse me mama crow, did you see any of the managers?”

The third-year turned toward him with his face completely red.

“How did you call me?”

Koutarou smiled shyly, “I’m sorry I don’t know your name.”

The crow crossed his arms over his chest, “My name is Sugawara, but everyone calls me Suga. And please don’t ever call me  _ mama crow _ ever again.”

The tone could have scared Koutarou but then mama- Suga chuckled and his whole face suddenly brightened like a ray of sunshine. “You were searching for the managers?”

“Yeah, my friend isn’t feeling well and I was wondering if he could rest this afternoon.”

“This friend, is it Akaashi-san? I saw him leave the barbecue earlier,” Suga eyed Koutarou from head to toe, “I’m glad he had his boyfriend to look over him!”

Koutarou jolted, “What? Who’s his boyfriend?”

“You are.” Suga said flatly.

“No I’m not. I’m just his  _ best _ friend.” Koutarou countered, raising a brow.

“Oh I thought you  _ were  _ considering…” Suga trailed off.

“Considering what?” Urged Koutarou.

Suga huffed and smiled with all his teeth, “Nothing! You just seem to get along very well!”

“Of course we are! He is my soul-” Koutarou suddenly closed his lips and brought his hands to his mouth to prevent more words from coming out of it. He almost had let slip that Akaashi was his soulmate, that could have been bad, but he was restraining himself so much all the time, it was like it just needed to get out of his chest.

“Oh oh? What was that?” Suga said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“N-nothing.” Koutarou said, raising a hand to his nape, he could feel sweat run down his spine.  _ Why was it so hot today _ ?

He was trying to be convincing but he could see Suga wasn’t fooled. The latter squinted his eyes slightly with the tiniest smirk on his lips and Koutarou felt like a sample under a microscope.

“Is this why he isn’t feeling well?” Suga attacked.

“What? What do you mean?” Of course he had seen through Koutarou like through an open book. Koutarou always had this bad habit to wear his emotions on his face.

“Did you break his heart? It looks like  _ you _ are the one who made him feel unwell honestly.”

“No! It wasn’t me! Your number five did!” Koutarou tried to counter back but realized a bit too late, how bad his move was.

He had to face the fact he clearly didn’t have thought this thoroughly when he saw Suga’s mouth opened with confusion. 

“Tanaka? What does he have to do with this?”

Koutarou let out a groan, how did he fall into this situation. The only explanation was that Karasuno’s vice captain was evil.

“If I tell you you have to promise to never tell anyone! Not even your captain!” Koutarou added for good measure, because he had seen how those two have been around each other.

“If Tanaka did something bad to your setter it’s my role to decide on the right way to proceed.”

Koutarou huffed with frustration, “It’s not- The thing is number five did nothing, it’s just- It’s just Akaashi thinks he is his soulmate.”

There he said it.

Suga’s jaw dropped and his arm fell at his sides. “But he is not.” He breathed.

“Of course he is not, because  _ I am _ Akaashi’s soulmate but he doesn’t know it, and he  _ can’t _ know-” Koutarou stopped his rambling suddenly aware of what Karasuno’ vice captain just said, “Wait how do  _ you  _ know?”

Suga put his hands on his hips lifting his face looking down on Koutarou, “Because I know who his soulmate is.”

_ That was...odd _ , it was the least Koutarou could say about it, but he didn’t have the time to react that Suga was already grabbing his wrist and pulling him towards the classroom building.

“Follow me.” He ordered in a tone that didn’t give space to negotiations.

Koutarou tried to ask anyway, “Where are we going?”

“You wanted to find the managers, so I’m leading you to the managers.”

They arrived in a little room on the first floor with sinks and different machines.

_ Right _ , the managers were washing the dishes… Damn Koutarou forgot too often how this job was hard and actually essential for the well being of the team. He had to find Yukie and thank her properly before telling him about all his and Akaashi’s problems. 

But apparently Suga had other plans as he grabbed Karasuno's third year manager by the sleeve and dragged her along Koutarou into the corridor. He waited until the door closed behind them and turned toward Koutarou, arms crossed on his chest. 

"Tell her what you told me about your setter."

Koutarou raised a brow at Suga and turned slowly towards the girl, executing orders anyway.

"Akaashi thinks your number five is his soulmate."

The manager's eyes widened slightly. 

"Tell her the other thing. About you." Suga said.

Koutarou didn't understand what was happening.

"That I'm Akaashi's soulmate and that I can't tell him?"

The girl whipped her head at Suga and she grabbed his hands. A secret message seemed to pass between them but Koutarou couldn't decipher what it was. Suga and the girl started giggling together, like Koutarou had said something very stupid. 

"Kiyoko is Tanaka's soulmate but she doesn't want to tell him before nationals." Suga finally explained fighting for his breath.

Oh.

_ Oh. _

“It’s exactly the same situation as I am with Akaashi!” Koutarou exclaimed a bit too loudly. He quickly whipped his head around to make sure nobody had heard him. “But wh- I mean, How-”

The girl,  _ Kyoko? _ cleared her throat and cut him off, “I dreamed about him before we even met,” she had a very soft and low voice, “but Tanaka can get.. easily distracted sometimes and he can be over excited and lose control, you must have seen him earlier when he and his teammates heard about the barbecue.”

“The first time they met, the first thing he did was ask her to marry him!” Saga exclaimed with a laugh.

The manager was fidgeting, “I didn’t tell him before because I needed some time to get used to the idea,” she continued, “but now I don’t tell him because we can go to the nationals and I don’t want to miss this chance, it wouldn’t be fair for him, for us.”

“This is exactly what I said to my friends about Akaashi and I!” Koutarou couldn’t believe he wasn’t the only one facing this weird situation.

But now that he was thinking about it, it should happen a lot more often than he thought, because obviously one soulmate always knew before the other. And they had to deal with this all by themself.

“I’m still not sure I should tell him before he figures it out by himself, though.” Koutarou looked at his feet. “Number five is obviously in love with you, but I’m not sure we can say the same about me and Akaashi.” Koutarou looked back at her, “Of course I love him but-”

The girl let go of Suga’s hands and suddenly grabbed both of Koutarou’s hands and squeezed firmly. Koutarou started to feel red creep to his cheeks while the manager brought her face near to his, her pale blues eyes piercing directly into his.

“You have to tell him after Nationals.” Her voice was still soft but her tone was stern. “It’s wrong to keep soulmates apart.” She let go of his hands and stepped back. “I can feel Tanaka pulling to me and I’m sure he can feel me pulling to him. It’s how it works, soulmates are relentlessly attracting each other. I’m sure you can feel it too with your setter.” 

Koutarou raised a brow and thought about it, “It feels like…” He sighed. “It feels like I’m falling into him.”

“Like a moon around its planet, always falling towards it repeatedly.” Suga illustrated.

Koutarou turned his face to him, he was so lost in his thoughts, he had almost forgotten he was here. The grey haired setter had a soft smile on his face.

“I also know what it feels like.”

“Do you know who your soulmate is?” Koutarou asked.

Suga shook his head, “No I don’t, it’s just a feeling I had for a while now. I think they're close though.”

“Yeah I get you Akaashi said that when he was talking about num- Tanaka.”

“Do you realise he was talking about you?” The girl giggled.

“Ugh?”

Koutarou barely had the time to contract his abs, before Suga punched him in the stomach with a beaming smile.

“If  _ you _ can feel it,  _ he  _ can probably feel it too silly!”

Koutarou took the hit with a huff and while he was catching his breath he reckoned that Suga was right. The attraction Akaashi talked about earlier was probably the one he was instinctively feeling towards Koutarou.

Even if this realisation should have made him happy he couldn’t help the dreadful feeling clinging to his throat. Akaashi was experiencing something, somewhere pulling on him, on his guts and he didn’t know what it was or who it was and Koutarou had the power to release this unwanted tension but he didn’t, he couldn’t.

Koutarou didn’t share his concern with Suga and his manager. He gave them a brief nod with a polite smile before heading back into the manager's room to find Yukie and Kaori.

The managers agreed on letting Akaashi rest for the afternoon and said they will talk about it to the coach so Koutarou came back to the gym with a feeling of relief. But if he was honest, he didn’t know if it was because Akaashi would be able to rest or because his crush would be far away from Karasuno’s number five the whole afternoon until the team had to leave. 

Either way, he mused, the problem was solved for now, and even if causing Akaashi some stress in the meantime wasn’t ideal, at least now he knew they were on the right path thanks to Suga and his friend. He will declare his love soon enough and they will finally be together. They just had to wait a little bit more.

Akaashi joined them back in time to say goodbye to other teams. They parted with Nekoma with a promise to make a training match in the following month and Kuroo promised to go to the movies with Akaashi and Koutarou in two weeks.

When Karasuno embarked on their own bus Akaashi didn’t hide a big heaving sighed and Koutarou taunted him about it. But the latter only chuckled and replied that he was probably mistaken anyway. Koutarou wrapped his arm around his shoulders and led them to their own bus. They said goodbye to Ubugawa and climbed into the vehicles. Akaashi sat beside Koutarou, his leg pressed to Koutarou and they chatted and laughed the whole ride back, like nothing ever happened.

  
  


When autumn came, they were deep into preparations for the Tokyo qualifiers. They trained mornings, evenings and weekends. Everyone was pumped up. They had good statistics at training camp and knew they were the top of all the strong teams they met during the summer.

One day though, Konoha didn’t show up, not for training or class. Koutarou and Yukie were worried, they both sent him texts to check if everything was alright and to know if he was sick and if he needed them to bring their notes after school. Koutarou even promised it wouldn’t be his and that he could ask the class representative's.

When neither of them received a text back, Yukie said she would stop by his house after practice.

When Koutarou arrived home this night he realized Yukie wouldn’t be able to bring her notes to Konoha as the latter was standing by his bike in front of Koutarou’s house. Koutarou ran toward him worried, if he was sick he shouldn’t have been out of bed. But the closer he got, the more he could see that even if Konaha had dark circles under his eyes, he didn’t seem to be sick. And if he was sick he couldn’t have rode his bike all the way here.

“Konoha!” Koutarou called, “What are you doing here?”

Konoha finally turned his gaze to look at him in the eyes. He didn’t look sick, he just looked very tired. Koutarou couldn’t help to compare this face to the one Akaashi had during the barbecue at training camp.

“Bokuto, something happened.” Konaha looked on the verge of crying.

“Okay, hmm,” Koutarou was a good captain, he had to take care of his teammate, no matter what their problems were. “Do you want to come in so we can talk?”

Konoha looked briefly toward Koutarou’s house. “Y-yeah.”

“Don’t worry, my parents are still at work and Tsukushi has a big exam coming up. If she’s not at cram school, she will be studying in her room.”

“Mikasa’s not here?” Konoha asked, referring to Koutarou’s eldest sister.

“No, she’s rarely at home nowadays. Since she met her soulmate, she spends a lot of time with her,” Koutarou said sheepishly.

Mikasa had asked Koutarou to be discreet about her new situation, but she surely wouldn’t mind as Konoha was almost like family.

They entered the geikan and as Koutarou had promised no sounds were indicating that anybody was home.

They climbed up to the third floor where Koutarou’s bedroom was, alongside his parents’ (the downside of being the last born). Koutarou threw his bag toward his wardrobe and gestured to Konoha to sit on his bed while he grabbed his desk chair to face him.

“Oh maybe do you want something to drink, or eat, I could make some tea?” Koutarou asked, suddenly remembering his good manners.

“No, I’m good, I just wanna talk man.” He answered with a thin smile.

“Alright… You said something happened?” Koutarou inquired.

Konoha sighed heavily and put his hands on his knees. “I dreamed about Yukie at training camp.” He said with a shaky voice.

Koutarou wasn’t following where this was going so said nothing to let him continue.

“I was… Her.”

Koutarou was trying to understand what Konoha was telling him. When the cogs finally fitted all together, Koutarou jumped off his chair. 

“Yukippe is your soulmate?!” He shouted and immediately sat back before saying lower, “You dreamed about Yukie’s memory!”

Konoha was looking at the ground now. “Yes.” He simply said.

Koutarou felt something cold passing between them.

“You are not happy. Why aren’t you happy about it?” He asked softly.

Konoha didn’t speak right away. He looked up at Koutarou with big eyes.

“She thinks I am a girl.”

Koutarou was still a bit lost, he didn’t understand why Konoha wasn’t jumping around at the news of his soulmate being his childhood best friend.

“Who cares!” He tried to say with an engaging smile. “I’m sure she will be happy to know it’s you even if you’re a boy!”

Koutarou’s smile disappeared when Konoha’s lower lip started trembling as he said, “What if I care? What if I don’t want it to be me even if I’m a boy.”

Koutarou noticed Konoha had used the same words as he just used but he felt his friend was trying to say something else.

“What if I wish I was a girl too?” Konoha breathed.

Koutarou felt like a bucket of ice-cold water had dropped on his head. He eyed Konoha carefully to be sure he had perfectly understood this time. Konoha wasn’t moving a finger, probably waiting for Koutarou’s reaction.

Koutarou opened his mouth to say something but closed it back right away. He had to say something, anything.

“You’re telling me something very important and I would like to tell you right away that I love you and I will always be by your side no matter what.”

Konoha looked at him with big round eyes. Koutarou was holding his breath.

Suddenly Konoha huffed a laugh and everything in the room seemed to relax at once.

“Damn you sounded like a robot Bokuto, I’m glad about what you said, but please never do that again.”

Koutarou scratched the back of his neck, “Okay,” He said with a nervous laugh.

They glanced at each other with soft smiles.

“I think Yukippe would understand you know…” Koutarou said tentatively.

Konoha sighed, “Maybe but… How do you say to your soulmate that you are not what they had expected? Except that, actually yes you might be, at least kind of, at some point.”

Koutarou hummed, “But you are, you are you. Yukippe always had a  _ feeling _ about it, but this feeling was  _ you  _ all along, no matter what people say.”

“Yeah well, I’m not even sure, I mean I’m sure I’m not a boy, but you know…” Konoha trailed off.

He was fidgeting. Koutarou waited for him to keep going.

“So, hmm, about that, could you try to call me by neutral pronouns when we’re alone? That way I would know if I like it or not.”

“Of course! No problem!” Koutarou said with a big smile.

He was happy Konoha trusted him enough to share their concerns with him, and of course he would do anything to help them.

“Since when did you know?” He asked.

“Oh a while now, I talked about it to my sister in spring last year. I’m defining myself as non-binary, it’s just-” They huffed, “This dream really threw me off balance, you know. It’s weird to see yourself from someone else's eyes and Yukie… Yukie thinks fervently her soulmate is a girl though.”

“Maybe she’s just projecting her own desires. I know it happens.” Koutarou tried, “You remember this movie where that girl traveled around the world to find her soulmate because she had that feeling they were someone adventurous? But she ended up finding her in her hometown, the place she left at the beginning of the movie.”

“Yeah...” Konoha didn’t seem convinced.

“The moral of the story is, sometimes you think you have a precise idea of what your soulmate can be like and it doesn’t have to be wrong, it’s just not what you thought about in the first place.”

“Right.” Konoha huffed, “Life isn’t a movie Bokuto.”

“No, no.” Koutarou made a strangled noise, “What I meant is, Yukippe loves you, and she seems very fond of her soulmate already, so there’s no reason she would freak out. She will understand, that is  _ why  _ you are soulmates.”

Konoha eyed him for a moment.

“Look at you being so wise on soulmates matter all of the sudden.” They both laughed. “Maybe you’re right, maybe I should just tell her.”

Koutarou nodded seriously, “Yes you should, one thing I also recently learned about soulmates is that it’s wrong to keep them apart because they’re meant to be with each other.”

Konoha gasped, their smile widening, “Seems like the pot’s calling the kettle black! Akaashi still doesn’t know you’re soulmates dude.”

Koutarou’s heart sank a little bit further in his chest, “I know! I’ll tell him after Nationals, promised, it’s just-” He exhaled through his nostrils, “I think it would be good for you two, you have some stuff to unpack here and it could be good for you to have another ally, someone you can count on.” Koutarou said shyly. “I mean when I’m not here of course!” He quickly added.

Konoha gazed dropped, but they were smiling pensively, “Yeah I should tell her, you’re right Bokuto.”

Koutarou whipped his head backward and cracked a resonating laugh, “Hey hey hey! Of course I’m right, I’m your capt-”

His bragging was stopped by Konoha smacking his head, not without some force.

“Shut up.” They grumbled and Koutarou closed his mouth at once.

They eyed each other, a smile drawing on their faces. Konoha muttered an “ _ idiot _ ” and they both burst out laughing heartfeltly.

The tension of the conversation finally gone, Koutarou invited Konoha to stay for the night, and Konoha, way too happy to be able to catch up with their homeworks, accepted and called their parents to let them know.

The third-years spent the rest of the night debating on what was the best way for Konoha to confess to Yukie and they both agreed on telling her the next day after practice as it would be Saturday and that they would both have plenty of time to talk afterward. Koutarou told them he could be here if they wanted, but Konoha insisted on doing it by themselves.

After dinner, they both fell asleep in Koutarou’s bed exhausted by their day and all the emotions they went through. When he closed his eyes that night though, Koutarou couldn’t help a mixed feeling of guilt and jealousy pooling into his stomach.

  
  


“Kenma found his soulmate,” Kuroo said nonchalantly between to bite of his slice of pizza.

Akaashi and Koutarou both immediately turned their head to the small setter for confirmation.

Koutarou invited Kuroo, Kenma and of course Akaashi out to celebrate the qualifications of both of their teams for the Spring Interhigh National Tournament.

Kenma let out a groan and buried his head in his crossed arms on the table.

“Why did you tell them?” His voice came out muffled.

“Because you never would have if I didn’t. And they are your friends so they have the right to know.”

“So is it true?” Koutarou urged.

Kenma let out a second groan.

Koutarou was writhing on his seat. “Who is it? Kenma, please tell us!”

“Bokuto-san calm down please.” Akaashi pestered him and shot a dark gaze to Kuroo. “Do you want to tell us Kenma-san?”

Kenma lifted up his face from his arms with a grunt. “It’s Shouyou,” he said before burying his face into his arms once again.

“The little shrimp from Karasuno,” added Kuroo with a grin, like a father proud of his son.

“Your soulmate is my little disciple?!” Koutarou jumped off his seat.

“Congratulations Kenma-san, You seemed to get along well enough, it must be a relief for you,” said Akaashi with a soft voice.

Kenma raised up his face and eyed him, “Thank you.” He pulled himself up on his elbows. “I am relieved, yes. I never really liked the concept of soulmates, but now I’m glad because I really like Shouyou.” A light blush dusted his cheeks.

Koutarou was almost sure it was the first time he was hearing so many words getting out of Kenma’s mouth at the same time. He was glad for him, his friend deserved the best and he got it. But he couldn’t help his heart to sink a little bit. If he was honest, he was jealous of his friends. First Konoha and Yukie and now Kenma and Hinata. He envied what they all had. He wished he could tell everyone Akaashi was his soulmate.

“Does he know it?” Koutarou asked.

“Of course he knows it...” Kenma answered slowly, looking at him with a questioning face, “It sucks that he lives so far away though.” 

Kenma let out a long and pitiful sigh.

Koutarou immediately berated himself for finding Kenma lucky a moment ago. He realized that even if no one knew Akaashi and him were soulmates, at least he got to spend each and every day with his soulmate. 

Akaashi patted Kenma’s back gently to comfort him. Kuroo eyed Koutarou with a heavy gaze and the latter looked away. He shouldn’t dwell on his own misery like that and be grateful for what he already had. He should take every opportunity he has to make Akaashi fall in love with him.

At that moment an idea popped into Koutarou’s head.

“We should go to LaQua and take a round of the Big O!”

Three heads turned towards him with a wary look.

“The big Ferris wheel.” He insisted.

“Why do you want to go there?” Kenma asked.

“I wanna see Tokyo from above one last time before the end of the year, who knows where I’ll be next year.” From the exchange of skeptical looks between his friends Koutarou knew he didn’t convince them, so he added, “There’s a Jump Store across the street.”

“Alright let’s go.” Kenma simply said while getting up off his chair, followed by Akaashi and Kuroo snickering.

From Ikebukuro they took the Marunouchi line to Korakuen station. They made a detour by the Jump Store so Kenma could buy one of the newest One Piece charms. And of course he bought one for Hinata as well.

Koutarou bought their tickets for entering the themed park and as it was already getting dark, they immediately got in the waiting line for the Ferris wheel. They didn’t wait long but the December weather was already cold in Tokyo so they had to stay close to each other to share some body warmth. Kenma had it best, because he was the smallest and he was literally surrounded by the others' huge bodies, like he was in a nest.

The Ferris wheel wasn’t as big as some of the itinerant wheels you could see over the city during some part of the year, like Christmas or Obon; but it was built on a terrace over a complex building in the middle of the city, so it was already higher than most of the surrounding architectures. It was one of the best viewpoints of Tokyo with of course the Tokyo Tower and Shinjuku’s Starbucks.

But the reason why Koutarou picked this Ferris wheel specifically was that he  _ knew _ the cabins were only made for two people. And of course he was planning to spend the twenty minute ride with Akaashi, completely alone together in the perfect intimacy of the Tokyo night sky.

Kuroo and Kenma embarked first and Koutarou was finally alone with Akaashi. It was about time to start executing his plan a.k.a  _ flirting with his crush _ . He wasn’t lying when he said he wanted to take one last look at his beloved city before departing for somewhere new for college. But of course he didn’t specify he wanted to share this last moment with his soulmate, the person he loved, to make it a memory he could bring with him into adulthood.

The warmth of the two others lost, the cold started to creep on them again, so Koutarou, feeling brave enough extended an arm and wrapped it around Akaashi’s shoulders. The latter didn’t even flinch and Koutarou smiled at himself for this perfect landing. He pressed Akaashi’s body against his and they didn’t say a word until their cabin arrived.

When the park’s employee gestured for them to get on board, Koutarou climbed first and turned around to Akaashi, extended his hand to help him climb in. Koutarou was perfectly aware that as a very well trained volleyball player Akaashi didn’t need anyone's help to climb over a forty centimeter step, but the minute Kuroo and Kenma went away, Koutarou very much intended to not hide his feelings and treat Akaashi like a prince. They were on a date and he wanted to enjoy every second of it.

With the training intensifying, to prepare for the Nationals, they probably won't have time anymore to date again before Koutarou could make his confession, therefore he had to take every occasion he had to make Akaashi fall in love with him, fair and square without fate’s help.

As their little narrow cabin slowly raised above the city they could see the lights below them shimmering like an inverted starry night sky. The show was magnificent but Koutarou couldn’t tear his eyes away from Akaashi. The boy was leaning slightly over the edge of their seat, eyes big and lips parted, his hands gripping the bar in front of them, and Koutarou thought that no view in the world could outshine this sight. He was still staring when Akaashi suddenly looked at him, his face lit by a luminous smile.

“Bokuto-san, it’s beautiful!”

Koutarou could feel a smile tug at his own mouth. It was always the effect Akaashi’s praises had on him, but his lips couldn’t move as his brain was completely struck by the beauty of his soulmate right at this moment.

Akaashi was gorgeous, it was a fact. He was like an angel dropped from heaven, a mystical fantasy beast from an old tale. You know those creatures, you may have crossed the path of one of them once and you still remember their face, right? So it was a constant in Koutarou’s life, his crush, soulmate, best friend, pick one, was one of the most beautiful people on Earth. He actually had to get used to it during the first weeks following they met each other, always staring, incapable of moving as his brain had to process so much glory. But he was pretty sure he had a hang of it by now... and yet.

It never had occurred to him that Akaashi could be even more stunning than he already was. But here, at the peak of their ascension, bathed only by the lights coming from the deep dark sky, Koutarou realised one very important thing. From all the Akaashis he saw during this last year and a half, happy Akaashi was the prettiest Akaashi he had ever seen, and he could give anything he had in life, surrender everything he had already achieved, to just see this face one more time.

Right this instant he knew he would do everything in his power to make Akaashi happy everyday from this moment until one of them left this world.

His ears were buzzing with the incredibly loud thump of his heart, so he didn’t hear Akaashi right away when he called for him.

“Are you alright Bokuto-san?”

Koutarou blinked rapidly and came back to his senses. “Hmm?” Was all his damaged brain managed to say.

“The view is breathtaking! I didn’t know it was possible to have access to this kind of sight here in Tokyo.”

“ _ You’re _ breathtaking.”

It came as a whisper. He had said it under his breath, like a bad comeback at a petty insult and it sure felt like it, because the view surely wasn’t on the same level as what Koutarou was witnessing right now.

Akaashi suddenly froze and yet so much was happening at the same time. Koutarou could feel the heat emanating from Akaashi’s body so close to him. He could feel every tiny movement of his friend and the world surrounding them. Akaashi’s fingers twitching, his breath lifting his chest, the sound of the fabric of his clothes ruffled by the light breeze penetrating between the joints of the cabin, its faint but relentless movement, swaying front to back, lulling them into the night.

The glimmering moon, outshined by the city lights, was still bright enough to make an appearance and witness Koutarou’s greatest act of bravery.

He took one look down to make sure of his aim, then closed his eyes and held his breath as he plunged into Akaashi’s space. When he landed on the other’s lips, he almost expected to be pushed away immediately, but nothing happened. And as he was pressing his lips more firmly on Akaashi’s, he realised that still nothing was happening. Panic started to get a grip on him, he shouldn’t have kissed Akaashi without his permission and now he was regretting it because if the feeling was not mutual, he was likely about to lose a friend and all his chances with his soulmate.

He felt it before he heard it. The starting puff of a breath hitting his face ending in a low hum rumbling into the chest pressed against his. The sigh was closely followed by the lightest but very welcome press against his lips. It was all Kouarou needed as encouragement as he wrapped his arms around Akaashi’s shoulders and slided once more his mouth over the other’s. This time, Akaashi pressed back more firmly plunging his hands into Koutarou’s open coat and grasping the back of his sweater. He heard a soft, high pitched noise when he pressed back his lips for the third time but he couldn’t tell from whom it was, and when he pressed back a fourth time, he licked over Akaashi’s lips which was received with a gasp, but Koutarou didn’t even realise the kiss broke off as he was utterly mesmerised by the other's reaction.

He would have gladly chased another sound into Akaashi’s mouth, if their ride wasn’t coming to an end. 

They were impossibly close when the cabin stopped swaying abruptly, and they just had a chance to stare at each other a brief second before the door opened way too violently for their minds lost in each other. They jerked back into a more  _ respectful _ position and Akaashi looked over at the machinist asking them to leave, while Koutarou was still staring at him, having a hard time unlocking the cogs of his brain mechanics.

He followed his soulmate out of the Ferris wheel where Kuroo and Kenma were waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs leading to the boarding stage. Kuroo was smiling widely, waving at them while Kenma was giving a strange look at Akaashi. Sadly Koutarou couldn’t see why as he was only facing his back.

When they finally reached their friends, and Koutarou could finally take a look at Akaashi, the latter had buried his nose in his scarf, only the top of his face was visible and he was looking at the ground.

“How was it?” Kuroo asked, and Koutarou didn’t answer, still looking at Akaashi, waiting for his reaction.

He didn’t give any signs he would answer.

“Did you like it?” Kuroo asked again.

“Awesome!” Koutarou answered this time, finally tearing his eyes away from Akaashi. “It was really great!”

He hoped his enthusiasm was convincing enough because he wasn’t sure of what kind of vibes he and Akaashi currently gave off.

“Right?” Kuroo kicked back happily, “I admit you can have a good idea once in a while!”

Kuroo turned his back, heading for the exit and Koutarou shot a last concerned glance to Akaashi, who didn’t seem to want to peep a word, and followed Kuroo arguing about the tones of good ideas he always had.

They headed in the direction of the train station, but Akaashi took his leave early as he said he had to run an errand for his father in Shiinamachi, and he insisted on Koutarou getting home without him. Koutarou knew something was off, but he didn’t try to mention it that night, not even by email. If Akaashi needed space to get his head around what happened between them,  _ the kiss _ , he would give it to him.

  
  


_ He was looking at himself. It was a strange experience. He had said his name. He remembered it. It was his first day at Fukurodani’s volleyball team practice. He was standing in front of the older players, his hands behind his back, his hair a bit too long was falling graciously on his forehead. He was… beautiful. Wait… those weren't his thoughts. It was his soulmate’s thoughts. His soulmate was here in the crowd listening to him and they were thinking he was beautiful. But there was something else. Something overwhelming, something so powerful it could make their heart stop. Keiji couldn’t comprehend what it was, it was a feeling he hadn’t faced before. It wasn’t love, it wasn’t despair, but it was close to both. Something bigger than life, something peremptory. A kind of genuine and compelling bliss. _

_ Keiji was still speaking to the  _ him  _ that wasn’t him and the others surrounding them. But only him and his soulmate really existed at this instant, like they were linked by a yarn, no, a cable, something strong and sturdy, immovable. _

He heard himself say he was a setter and then he woke up. As if the word was a trigger some hypnotist used to wake up their subject.

His soulmate was on his volleyball team. It happened so long ago, he couldn’t remember who was specifically standing there. It could have been anyone, second-years, third-years…

Maybe he shouldn’t dwell too much on it because of the risk of being deceived, but somehow he couldn’t help himself to hope his soulmate was still on the team and preferably someone he had good relations with.

And maybe someone he had enjoyed kissing, not very long ago.

  
  


Nothing had happened since the Ferris wheel. Literally nothing. N.O.T.H.I.N.G.

And it was killing Koutarou. He made the mistake of giving Akaashi some space, to let him come to him. But he never came, never spoke a word about it, not an e-mail or even a note on the corner of his textbook. 

So now it was too late for Koutarou to go to him to talk about it.

Akaashi clearly wanted to let it die, like nothing happened between them. So Koutarou didn’t object. He didn’t even talk about  _ the kiss _ to Konoha or Yukie, because they had enough problems of their own to manage and Koutarou didn’t want to add his misery to their burden.

It’s not that he had time to think about it anyway, the team was in practice hell, focusing only on perfecting their game for Nationals. They were travelling a lot to meet other teams for some practice matches and until now they won against each one of them. They were on a good path. Maybe this year they could win all their matches at Nationals and be the top ones.

Luckily nothing had changed between them neither. Akaashi was always his amazing setter and best friend and they still get back home together, although Koutarou had noticed they were spending fewer moments completely alone together for a large amount of time. Even their study sessions were now taking place exclusively at school or at the library, so they couldn’t have talked about  _ the kiss _ even if they really wanted to.

It wasn’t making Koutarou miserable, because he was almost a grown-up now and he shouldn’t let himself be overpowered by those kinds of matters. He wanted to sulk and slump and mope and wallow and… But he shouldn’t so he would not! He was a strong man, ace and captain of his team. And he will lead them and himself to victory.

  
  


It happened the night before their first match.

The school had decided to rent a hotel near the stadium, to make sure the team could have easy access to the training facilities. Koutarou was sharing his bedroom with Akaashi, Konoha, and Washio. Although Konoha had escaped for the night, obviously they wanted to spend it with their soulmate.

Surprisingly enough Koutarou fell asleep relatively quickly that day. He wasn’t over-excited by the upcoming event, which was a good sign, it meant he was ready and thought his team was ready too.

_ He was dreaming of nets and volleyballs when suddenly he found himself back at Mukaihara. Except this time he wasn’t with Akaashi, he was with himself. _

_ Something was off, his mouth was open, but he wasn’t talking. His face was pink and his eyes wide open. He looked strange from this angle, though it wasn’t what he was thinking. The person he was, was thinking about how his lips were the same color as the flowers bloom. He remembered this thought, though it wasn’t his. He remembered thinking the flowers might be jealous of Akaashi. But it wasn’t the same feeling his soulmate was experiencing right now. His focus was on Koutarou’s lips, their color but also their fullness, the faint trace of rice powder from the daifuku they just ate at the corner of his mouth, how they looked like petals resting lightly on Koutarou’s face and how it would feel to touch them. With his own maybe? _

_ Akaashi wanted to kiss him. _

_ It happened months ago, this time under the cherry trees blossom Akaashi wanted to kiss him. _

_ Seeing himself by Akaashi’s eyes was something very strange, his head was full of a mix of complicated feelings that Koutarou had a hard time grasping enough to comprehend. It was so warm, and fuzzy, and alleviating, and giddy... _

In the morning when Koutarou woke up he brought his hand to his mouth and spared a glance at Akaashi sleeping in the bed next to him. His covers were heaving up and down evenly to the rhythm of his breath.

He hadn’t dreamt about Akaashi’s memories in a while. Maybe once you knew who your soulmate was you didn’t need much to dream about them since you were supposed to create new memories with them. And yet, fate had sent him this dream. Akaashi’s memory of him. And it was a good one, an awesome one.

Koutarou looked at the time on his phone, he still had some minutes to spare. He turned his back to Akaashi and sulked into his comforter to try to chase the lingering feeling of Akaashi’s affection.

They won all their matches that day, as Koutarou predicted.

  
  


The competition was really exhausting but not only because of the intense matches against the very good teams they encountered. The training schedule was hard to keep up with as they were only allowed to have access to the training courts during specific times of the day. They had to be on time and efficient. When they weren’t training they were watching their next opponents’ match or were discussing strategy about the plays they saw a glimpse of throughout the day.

But it was also exhausting emotionally. There were bursts of serotonin from their victories and the cheering crowd applauding them but also being reunited with players they knew all over Japan and TV cameras and sports journalists commenting on their matches, asking questions, and calling Fukurodani one of the favorites of the tournament…

On the second day, even being used to it Koutarou was starting to get overwhelmed, and he supposed it was the same for the rest of the team as they all seemed to be dazed, talking only about volleyball, even at dinner, or before going to bed, when they were supposed to play cards and relaxing.

Koutarou was a good captain, so he knew his team could do it. He knew they were on the right track, only trying to stay focused.

It’s on the third day that things started to get complicated. Mujinazaka was a strong and fierce opponent. Their captain,  [ Wakatsu Kiryū ](https://haikyuu.fandom.com/wiki/Wakatsu_Kiry%C5%AB) was one of the best three aces in Japan, the rank Koutarou always tried to reach but never did. He was confident, his team could do it, he could do it, it was his time to shine, to show the world he could be the ace they were expecting from him.

Though he could clearly feel that Akaashi was losing control. He would lie if he said he didn’t know what was affecting him. Akaashi had always been here for him, to practice with him, to train to get better and better, to be the best. And today's opponent was making them look at themselves and ask  _ are we good enough? _ Obviously, Akaashi was more concerned than anyone else about Koutarou’s abilities to overcome  [ Kiryū ](https://haikyuu.fandom.com/wiki/Wakatsu_Kiry%C5%AB) ’s power.

At some point, the coach had to bench him and replace him with Anahori, who had the pressure and stress of his situation drawn all over his face.

Koutarou wanted only to run to him, take his hands in his and whisper soft, comforting words to make him feel better, but he couldn’t lose concentration, he had a match to win, even if it meant winning without Akaashi. He had to trust him to get over it by himself.

Retrospectively, it was one of the hardest things Koutarou had to do for volleyball.

Hopefully, Akaashi succeeded in getting over it soon enough to rejoin the match and win over Mujinazaka.

As soon as the match ended Koutarou jumped on Akaashi cheering and shouting, he wanted to kiss him all over the face, for being so brave and strong and… Ah! But he had to be careful and keep his emotions in check and not abandon himself to the sweet feelings brought by the shots of serotonin.

They were qualified for the semi-finals and this victory was just the proof they needed that they could achieve anything and win against anyone. They were ready. Akaashi and he could take over the world if they wanted to.

  
  


They won against Inubushi East High in only two sets. Maybe they were lucky, maybe the Inubushi players were tired; the third day was always the hardest to survive.

That night they went back to their room with only one thing in mind, win against Ichibayashi High. As the coach had told them, they had to put aside anything else. It was the finals, they would play on the centercourt, every camera would be turned towards them, Koutarou was vibrating with excitement and his teammates (mostly Akaashi) had to keep him in check regularly during the briefing of the day. 

They went to bed early, at least they tried. Koutarou woke up after having spent two hours staring at the ceiling of their hotel room. Konoha was gone, probably sleeping with Yukie while Kaori must have found refuge with the manager of another highschool volleyball team renting the hotel for the event. Washio and Akaashi were sound asleep, of course. The rooms' arrangements weren't random, Koutarou and Konoha ended up with Washio and Akaashi specifically because they were more calm and would install some discipline, which according to the coach, Konoha and Koutarou both needed.

After checking the time on his phone for the third time in the last half hour, Koutarou decided to get something from the vending machine in the hotel lobby. He didn’t know if it would help, probably not, as the machine almost only offered coffee, tea, or energized drinks. So he ended up staring at it for several minutes, debating with himself if corn soup would help him to fall asleep.

“You’re not sleeping.”

It wasn’t a question, Akaashi was only pointing out the obvious because they both knew they needed to rest for the big match tomorrow. He was standing a few meters away in his pajamas, sleepy eyes and tousled hair.

“Ah, no.” Koutarou smiled sheepishly. Akaashi was pretty, the lines of his face still softened by the echo of sleep. “Did I wake you up?”

“No.” Akaashi rubbed his hand on his eyes, head still clearly clouded by his residual dreams. “I mean yes, but only because I was sure you would wake up at some point.” He closed the distance between them. “You made some progress managing your excitement but I know playing on the centercourt is your dream.”

“You think so? Well, it’s not the only thing I’m excited for.” Koutarou muttered.

Akaashi extended a hand. “Come, I know something that might help you find some sleep.”

Koutarou grabbed his hand without even a second glance at his corn soup, way too happy to be allowed to touch Akaashi after these weeks of polite distance.

Akaashi led him back to their room and let go of Koutarou’s hand to go beside his own bed. Koutarou stayed where he was, looking at what Akaashi was doing silently. He began to push his bed towards Koutarou’s and when both beds were side to side like it was one big bed for two, Akaashi gestured to Koutarou to lay down. Koutarou obeyed without any hesitation.

Akaashi joined him, his face serious as ever, while Koutarou’s heart was hammering in his chest menacing to break out of it. Akaashi turned his back at him and shuffled until he was closer to him, his back almost against Koutarou’s front. The warmth of Akaashi’s body was more than welcome during the cold winter night. Akaashi took out his phone from his pocket and dislodged the small phone holder in its back to put it in front of them on the bed in an horizontal position.

“My mom was a painter.” Akaashi whispered. Koutarou already knew this but didn’t say a word. “Sometimes watching speed painting helps me fall asleep, maybe it’ll help you too.”

Koutarou took a moment to look at Akaashi’s back while the latter was starting a video of someone painting a landscape of a forest under a moonlight. His pajama was just a little too large for him and the collar of his shirt was falling backward, revealing his nape and the top of his shoulder blades. The skin there was soft and covered with a light fuzz. Koutarou let out a shaky breath overwhelmed by the sudden intimacy of their position and Akaashi shuddered in response.

“Can you see well enough Bokuto-san?” His tone wasn’t giving away any sign of embarrassment.

Koutarou cleared his throat, “Y-yes.” He wasn’t as good as Akaashi at hiding his feelings.

“Good.”

Akaashi didn’t add anything more and they watched the painting video in silence. At some point Koutarou heard Akaashi faintly snored in his sleep and wondered if he should turn off his phone. But then figured it would mean he wouldn’t have any excuse to stay this close to him, so he left it there until he felt his own sleep claiming him.

When he felt himself drifting away, he turned off Akaashi’s phone and set it aside. He was above Akaashi, about to settle back in his own bed, when he heard it. A soft, low, nearly inaudible  _ “Koutarou” _ .

Koutarou stiffened, heart speeding up. He looked down at Akaashi’s face but the latter was very much sleeping, nothing giving away he had said Koutarou’s name consciously. 

Koutarou relaxed, then lied back on his bed, still facing Akaashi’s back, he could still hear his heart in his ears and maybe that’s what kept him from thinking straight when he leaned forward to lie a featherlike kiss on Akaashi’s nape.

He realised too late what he had done and waited mortificated for Akaashi’s reaction. Hopefully Akaashi was still sleeping and didn’t seem to have noticed anything, which wasn’t making it alright, but at least they avoided a very uncomfortable conversation just before their big day.

Koutarou made the promise to himself to talk about this not consensual kiss as soon as the match was over and he had made his confession, then fell asleep still lulled into the feeling of Akaashi’s skin against his lips.

  
  


_ Keiji was dreaming of paint and brushes when suddenly he found himself back in the Ferris wheel. Except this time he wasn’t with Bokuto, he was with himself. _

“You’re breathtaking,”  _ he said to himself. He didn’t react, only staring, he had developed this bad habit since he had met Bokuto. The one who wasn’t him started to lean into him, like falling at the edge of a precipice. Their lips met and he didn’t react.  _ Why wasn’t he reacting? _ He remembered wanting to, but he wasn’t sure how, he didn’t want to ruin the moment. _

_ The one who wasn’t him, who he was in this dream, kept kissing him and he sighed into the kiss. The one who he wasn’t, he knew his name, kissed more fervently and he felt it inside and out of himself, like printed in his very core. It was like fireworks in summer, like a point scored on the other side of the net, like the first sip of cool water after training. _

_ He remembered the arms wrapping around him and he felt hands scurrying their way to his sides. He moaned eager to discover the other’s flavor and Koutarou pressed a tongue against his lips. _

Koutarou.

_ Koutarou was surrounding him, his scent, his breath, his warmth, it was as if he was bathing into him. And he could feel his thoughts as they were brushing against his own mind relentlessly. _

Keiji I love you.

He woke up slowly, getting back into consciousness gradually, as if the waking world didn’t want to scare him.

The bed next to him was empty. It’s still burdened with sleep that he extracted himself from his covers and headed to the hotel lobby where he likely would find his soulmate.

  
  


They were eating breakfast in the dining hall. Players from some teams renting the same hotel were present but none of them really had to be up this early. The only one playing today was Fukurodani.

Akaashi hadn’t said a word all morning but Koutarou could have sworn he was regularly glancing at him, but every time Koutarou seemed quite not able to catch him. Akaashi never had served him the silent treatment, he was more distant since the Ferris wheel, obviously focussing on volleyball and classes, but now he was strangely quiet.

They went to the training court and used all the time they were allowed to perfect their game. Things seemed to be going well but if Koutarou was honest Akaashi seemed off. No not off per say, but somewhere else really far away, deep into the game. When they were about to take the bus to the stadium, Koutarou even heard the coach debating with the managers about benching him or not. They seemed to be afraid that his nervous breakdown from the Mujinazaka match resurfaced. Koutarou wanted to talk to him about it, but he was now sure Akaashi avoided him. He sat at the other end of the bus with Onaga and even faked not hearing him while checking his phone when they arrived at the stadium.

While they were displaying their stuff in the team room, Yukie tried to confront him about his strange behaviour.

“Are you feeling okay Akaashi?” She asked, visibly concerned.

“Hmm?” Was his only reaction.

“You seem err… really into the game, you don’t play your life, you know that?”

“Don’t worry Yukie-san, I promise I’m fine.” A serene smile drew on his lips. “Actually I am more than fine.”

  
  


It was everything Koutarou had ever dreamed of; his team was playing on the center court of the Tokyo Metropolitan Gym, cameras from all over the country were pointed at them. The commentators were calling their names and their numbers for them to come one by one to line up on the side of the court. As the captain, Koutarou was called last. When he appeared between the bleachers the crowd exploded with hurrays and hoots and his chest filled with glee vibrating with contentment. He trotted toward his spot beside Akaashi, arms in the air, a big smile plastered on his face.

They played well, they poured all their heart into the game. Akaashi was giving him the best tosses he ever did, Konoha saved more than one tricky ball, Saru and Onaga did some amazing blocks, they all made so few mistakes… and yet.

They lost three sets against two. They fought well, but Ichibayashi was better.

They went back to the team room exhausted and drained. Koutarou could see Komi was holding his tears and maybe Washio too. They sat in silence, listening to coach Yamiji's encouragement speech.  _ They didn’t really lose _ ,  _ this loss only meant they were second in the competition _ ,  _ the whole country had seen them play _ ,  _ they played well and everyone would remember it _ … But those words seemed empty meaning as all Koutarou could keep hearing was  _ “you lost” _ ,  _ “you didn’t win Nationals” _ ,  _ “Akaashi and the team counted on you” _ .

When the coach finished his speech, it was time to go back on the court for the medal ceremony. Koutarou was proud of his team, everyone had put on a polite smile even if the mood wasn’t at its peak. Hopefully, all their friends from the school and from other teams were here to cheer on them. Once the ceremony finished Koutarou and Akaashi had a brief time to say goodbye to their friends. Kuroo and Kenma hugged them tightly, muttering some congratulations before heading back to their team. Tsukki and Hinata came by right after and thankfully his little disciple was excited enough for all of them even if he just suffered from a nasty cold that incapacitated him the day before.

At some point, Kaori came by to bring them up to meet a horde of journalists who all wanted to have their thoughts on the match. It was one of the hardest things Koutarou had ever done. He forced himself to keep smiling and joke around because that was what everyone expected from him.

When he was asked for the third time, by a newspaper from Osaka, what he thought might have been their errors during the match, Akaashi cut him off to take the lead in the conversation with the journalist and Koutarou was grateful for it. He was tired, and he knew the hardest was still to come.

He had to talk to Akaashi.

He still didn’t know how he wanted to proceed. Should he talk to him as soon as he could or wait until they were back home? He figured it might be better to talk to him in relative privacy so he had to wait until they left the stadium, and maybe after they had parted from the team, which meant it could only happen after their last team meeting and maybe the izakaya that would come after.

He was still in his head when Akaashi grabbed his hand and led him toward the team room where Fukurodani was probably waiting for them, ready to go.

Koutarou looked at their hands, linked to each other and he couldn’t help a strain tightening around his heart. Since they lost the match, he felt like he had deceived Akaashi and had the feeling he would be rejected for being not good enough for his soulmate.

“You played very well today Bokuto-san.” They were exiting the court by the entry passing through the bleachers. They were alone, Akaashi hadn’t turned around, Koutarou could only see his back. “I’m sure the world now sees you as a top player, you will be scouted to play for a great team.”

Koutarou didn’t know what to say. Akaashi turned around, he was smiling, Koutarou had trouble breathing.

“Fukurodani will have a hard time living up to your legacy,” his smile broadened, “I hope you’ll come see us play from time to time.”

The strain around Koutarou’s heart squeezed so much he could now feel a vivid pain in his chest, he choked on a sob escaping his throat and fat tears started rolling down his cheeks.

He heard Akaashi gasped, but he wasn’t sure, the world was all blurry around him. He could only assume it was Akaashi who was encircling him with his arms and whispering that everything was alright.

They stayed in the hallway for a while, Akaashi smothering Koutarou with kind words and praises about how such a good player he was. At some point when the tears stopped pouring out of his eyes, Akaashi resumed leading him to the team room still holding his hand.

The rest of the afternoon was fuzzy, They got back into the bus to get to an izakaya the managers had booked the day before, still not knowing if it would be for a loss or a victory. The chef welcomed them with cheers but was cut off by the sad looks on their faces. They ate in silence for a while, then began to talk about the match, unwinding their plays and Ichibayashi performance and how the Ibaraki team deserved to win anyway.

Konoha and Yukie left first, they were hiding their relationship for so long it was finally the moment for them to get some valuable time together and try to properly build their relationship without worrying about the team.

Koutarou felt his heart wince when they left, he knew he couldn’t have what they have until he didn't talk to Akaashi.

The team parted away at the izakaya’s door with the plan of getting together the day after to debrief properly over the tournament. Koutarou and Akaashi headed toward the station. They were walking home together as usual. The train ride was silent, Akaashi seemed to be in his head, and even if Koutarou wanted to talk about a million things it wasn’t the place nor the moment to express his feelings.

When they got off Kotake station Akaashi started heading South, following the rails instead of taking the road leading to his home. Koutarou stopped at the junction and called for him.

“Where are you going ‘Kaashi? Do you have an errand to run  _ now _ ?”

Akaashi didn’t turn around to answer. “Follow me Bokuto-san.”

Koutarou did as was said and they started to go down the road leading to the golf course. The weather was cold and it had started to snow at some point while they were on the train. The streets started to be covered by a light cloak of white. The empty city seemed as muted as the rest of the world. The walk was silent, Akaashi didn’t say a word, only walking relentlessly toward a goal, Koutarou ignored. When they reached the golf course Koutarou suddenly understood what was their final destination.  _ Mukaihara _ . He said nothing and waited patiently until they reached the park of their first date.

When they reached it, Akaashi stopped and stared at it for a moment. Then walked to where they sat right by the pound, during the hanami.

Koutarou cleared his throat and called him from where he was at the entry of the park.

“‘Kaashi, can I talk to you?” He passed the barrier of the park to join his soulmate by the pound. “There is something important I want to tell you.”

Akaashi turned to face him, and Koutarou could finally see his face which he hadn't seen since the train station.

His look was hard as steel and his lips were pinched in a thin line. Koutarou’s heart did a backflip before his pace increased drastically. The world was becoming white around them, and Koutarou suddenly felt very tired. There was so much a person could endure he figured. He heaved a sigh while his gaze dropped to the ground.

“I’m sorry I haven’t told you before, I have a lot of excuses and they were all valid, but now I can’t help but regret it anyway.” He looked up, Akaashi’s expression hadn’t shifted. For the second time today, Koutarou could feel tears reaching the rim of his already sore eyes. “Akaashi… Keiji, I’m almost sure - no - I know you-” A sob cut off his throat and tears started streaming down his face, “You are my soulmate Keiji and I am yours.” Koutarou was crying and sobbing like a kid, and all in front of his crush, and he hated it but somehow he couldn’t bring himself to stop. He started to scrub his face to try to make the tears go away, but it didn’t help. He wasn’t sure why he was crying. All these months, pretending he knew nothing while Akaashi was there so close and yet so far, had exhausted him more than he had thought. And he had done all of this for nothing, he wasn’t even able to win Nationals, and he hated himself even more for it.

Lost in his mental spiraling Koutarou suddenly felt fingers brushing softly against his jaw and he stopped wiping his face to look at Akaashi, tears still trailing down his face without his consent.

Akaashi’s face was unreadable, his hand cupped his face and Koutarou stifled a sob to try to calm himself and take a proper look at Akaashi. When he calmed down with a great deal of sniffles Akaashi finally spoke.

“Since when did you know Bokuto-san?”

Another sob menaced to take over Koutarou but he managed to swallow it down. He had to answer even if the question shot a rifle of spikes right through his heart.

“Too long,” he breathed, but Akaashi didn’t react and he knew he owed him a clear answer, “Since always, I dreamed about your face when I was eleven and I recognized you your first day of training at Fukurodani.”

Akaashi's look drifted away and his hand withdrew from Koutarou’s face before he turned around again. Koutarou waited without a word, concerns sinking into his chest. He wanted to reach for Akaashi and ask him what he was thinking, but he had to give him the time to process the information.

Koutarou waited patiently struggling to keep his tears at bay until Akaashi faced him again. He let out a shaky breath, shoulders visibly trembling. He was about to speak when Koutarou cut him off.

“I kissed your neck!” He didn’t plan on saying it like this but he didn’t know what was coming and he wanted to have a chance to absolve the last of his crimes before Akaashi would either accept the situation or turn him down and they wouldn't speak ever again.

“What?” Akaashi’s eyes widened and Koutarou felt panic cling to the back of his head.

“I kissed your neck last night when you were sleeping, I’m sorry it won’t happen again, I should have asked you before, I’m really deeply sorry ‘Kaashi!”

Akaashi was frozen in place, he wasn’t moving even a finger. Koutarou feared he had broken him or something, when suddenly a laugh started bubbling from his soulmate’s chest. It was Koutarou’s turn to be frozen, none of what he had said was supposed to be funny. He couldn’t explain what was happening. He waited, worried for what would happen next.

“Oh, Koutarou.”

Koutarou jolted at the sound of his given name in Akaashi’s mouth. Akaashi sighed, Koutarou could see thousands of emotions passing through his face. Koutarou was still trying to figure what he could say when Akaashi cut off any thought that could have bloomed in his head.

“I love you.”

Koutarou’s brain short-circuited, he wasn’t sure he heard right, the wind was pretty loud and maybe he simply had heard what  _ he wanted _ to hear.

“I dreamed about you last night, about us, when we kissed on the Ferris wheel.” A delicate blush spread over Akaashi’s cheeks. “It was amazing, to feel you, to see myself through your eyes and- You have a beautiful mind do you know that?” He chuckled, “Of course looking back at all these months, I realized immediately that you probably already knew we were soulmates. I mean, I wasn’t exactly sure because how could I, but-”

“I love you too!” Koutarou interrupted. He was too eager to say it, it was trapped in his chest for way too long, he had to say it now. Akaashi loved him and Koutarou loved him back, they were soulmates and Koutarou’s heart was about to explode with joy. “I love you Keiji, I fell in love with you all those years ago when I dreamed about you for the first time!”

Akaashi eyed him with stupor before the same giddy laugh from earlier shook his chest again. Koutarou wanted to join him in his glee but his body was trembling and tears started running down his face once again.

“Oh no why are you crying?” Akaashi reached for him, wrapping an arm around his waist, bringing his face close to his, one hand in his hair. “I love you, I’m not mad at you for the kiss on my neck and I’m actually glad you held onto your feelings, I can see why, even though I can’t imagine how hard it should have been for you...”

Koutarou shook his head, “It’s not-” a sob, “it’s not why I am crying.” Akaashi was petting his head softly, “There’s another thing I’ve got to tell you, it’s about the dream where I saw your face.”

Akaashi rested his forehead against Koutarou’s, “Tell me Koutarou.” He said with a low voice.

Koutarou closed his eyes and inhaled deeply to ease his hiccups, before continuing, “I dreamed about your mother painting a family portrait of you, your father, and her.”

Akaashi gasped and jerked back. Koutarou’s eyes burst open. Akaashi was scanning his face and Koutarou held his breath fearing his reaction.

“You- You met my mother?” Akaashi asked in a strangled voice.

Koutarou’s eyes widened, “I dreamed about one of your memories of her.” He wasn’t sure Akaashi had understood him correctly.

“Yeah yeah of course, but-” He sighed and a smile drew on his face, “You met her in your dream, it’s already more than I could ever ask.” He let out a shaky breath, “Koutarou…” Akaashi closed his eyes and bent his face closer to Koutarou’s, a hand still resting on his waist. “I’m-” His features scrunched up like he was about to say something painful, “I’m glad you met her, even in those circumstances.” He looked back at Koutarou, “I love you Koutarou, and I’m ready to live the rest of my life with you.”

Koutarou choked on a hiccup “Keiji-” he sobbed and leaned down to crash his lips on Akaashi’s, it was wet and sloppy, mostly due to the rivers of tears streaming down his face, but it was also warm and soft. It was like they always fitted together, like two pieces of the same puzzle finally finding their right place. It felt like home, like they always belonged to each other.

On the way back to their houses, Koutarou made the promise to Akaashi to never lie to him ever again as in his opinion he had already lied for an entire lifetime. They walked, holding each other's hands, stopping from time to time to exchange kisses and hugs. A passerby couldn’t ever guess they just lost an important match a few hours ago. They were covered in snow when they arrived at Akaashi’s house. They spent another whole hour kissing some more under Akaashi’s garage until someone, probably his father, turned on the light to make them know he knew they were here. They went in and greeted Akaashi’s father, they briefly talked about the match that his father had seen on TV but Akaashi said that he had another topic he wanted to talk about.

He announced their newly found bond and Akaashi’s father gave them a warm hug to congratulate them. He invited Koutarou to stay for the night if he promised to go announce it to his own family on the next day. Koutarou agreed solemnly before Akaashi and he flew up the stairs leading to Akaashi’s room.

They spent most of the night kissing and giggling under the comforter. They were in each other’s arms, content and happy.

Even if Akaashi was Koutarou’s soulmate, their love had constantly grown these last few months. Maybe fate had brought them together, but love wasn’t something owed or earned, it was something that bloomed over time and they had the rest of their lives to let it happen.

That night, sleep welcomed them as if new dreams were to be discovered by them only.

**Author's Note:**

> I worked hard to write this fic, I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Comments and Kudos are my fuel. <3
> 
> Here's my [Twitter!](https://twitter.com/Bagarella25)


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